A well-executed tale of abuse, empowerment, and healing.
A woman finds her way out of an abusive relationship and makes peace with her past.
In this debut contemporary novel, Zane tells the story of Sarah Jenkins, a wife, mother, and English teacher. In the book’s first chapters, Sarah does not understand that her husband, Robert, usually away from home on extended work trips, is an emotional abuser whenever he is present. Robert’s nature is obvious to readers from the opening pages, as the author’s close narration of Sarah’s thoughts makes it clear how desperately she strives to avoid upsetting Robert and how much of herself she sacrifices in the process. As Robert escalates to physical violence, Sarah draws back from her friends. (“You can’t let her see what a mess you’ve made of things. She wouldn’t want to be friends with you anymore.”) But fellow mother Kate and co-worker Maggie eventually team up to make Sarah face her situation and deal with the unresolved issues of her childhood that have left her willing to put up with an untenable family life. When matters reach a crisis point, Sarah eventually learns to rely on her friends’ support; to make the right decisions for herself and her young daughter, Lizzy; and to stop worrying about the reactions of Robert’s wealthy and judgmental mother. (“ ‘It was the best party, Lizzy,’ Cynthia said. ‘Bestest isn’t a word.’ ”) Zane, a therapist and former nurse, does an excellent job of capturing the raw emotions of her characters and even succeeds in making Robert, the clear villain of the tale, marginally sympathetic when readers learn about the secret he has spent years concealing. The result is a satisfying and cathartic work of women’s fiction that offers an engaging and easy-to-get-into read, perfect for fans of authors Susan Wiggs and Holly Chamberlain. Although it can be painful to read the intimate depictions of emotional abuse, Zane allows the audience to feel like part of Sarah’s support network rather than a voyeur and to ultimately enjoy a difficult story.
A well-executed tale of abuse, empowerment, and healing.Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63152-403-5
Page Count: 261
Publisher: She Writes Press
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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