This work of historical fiction centers around three women who have been indelibly shaped by Elvis Presley, both his music and the man himself.
This second novel by Morgan (One August Day, 2013), set in the Southern United States during the 1970s, is organized in three distinct sections, each chronicling the story of a different woman whose life has been heavily influenced by Elvis. They include Velis Emerson, the agoraphobic secretary of the rock star’s Tupelo, Mississippi, fan club; Priscilla Johnson, a nurse whose brief acquaintance with the singer disrupts her personal life; and Notary Midgette, a longtime domestic worker at Graceland in Memphis, compelled to seek her employer’s help when her wayward son becomes involved with criminals. The three main sections are punctuated by interludes in the imagined voice of Elvis’ “Satnin Mama,” Gladys Love Smith Presley. The three women’s stories are situated in the context of the musician’s personal troubles during the final years of his life: the toxic lackeys around him, prescription drug abuse, the loss of his beloved mother, and the devastating end of his marriage. The novel explores the role of Christian faith in times of hardship through the struggles of the rock legend as well as those of Velis, Priscilla, and Notary. Through the lens of these women’s admiration for Elvis (and their speculation about his private life), Morgan deftly explores the universal difficulties of all kinds of relationships: within families, among friends, between lovers. While each of the three women’s stories ends on a cliffhanger, a final section that centers on the public reaction to the artist’s death provides resolution for each of them. The novel benefits from its engaging, sympathetic portrayal of three unique women; Elvis may be the center of gravity around which they orbit, but the stories of Velis, Priscilla, and Notary should plant a mark on readers and leave many wanting to know more. The tale’s careful structure also deepens the sense of reflection and refraction among the characters, calling attention to the universality of the challenges they face as well as their specificity. A subtle, affecting glimpse into the lives of a trio of singular women molded by the works and personal character of a rock icon.
Pub Date: July 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4944-6006-8
Page Count: 280
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her...
Another middle-aged mom in a muddle.
After years of false starts and big hopes, Elizabeth’s ruggedly handsome husband Jack, a former football star, just landed a spot as a sportscaster on national news. He still loves her, even though much younger women are giving him come-hither looks. Heck, he doesn’t want to betray the love of his life after she helped him kick drugs and stuck by him even when he was a struggling has-been. And won’t it seem hypocritical if he fools around with his sexy assistant while he does in-depth reporting on a rape case involving a famous basketball center? Well, he fools around anyway. Elizabeth, nicknamed Birdie, knows nothing of this, but she withdraws from Jack when her hard-drinking, salt-of-the-earth father has a stroke and dies. Now no one will call her “sugar beet” ever again. Time to return home to Tennessee and contend with Anita, the sort-of-evil stepmother so trashy she wears pink puffy slippers all day long. Naturally, it turns out that Anita actually has a heart of gold and knows a few things about Birdie’s dead mother that were hushed up for years. Mom was an artist, just like Birdie, and an old scandal comes to light as Anita unrolls a vibrant canvas that portrays her secret lover. Perhaps, Birdie muses, her mother died of heartbreak, never having followed her true love or developed her talent. Has she, too, compromised everything she holds dear? Hoping to find out, Birdie joins a support group that promises to reconnect confused women with their passion. She and Jack separate, prompting a how-dare-you fit from their grown daughters. Will Birdie fly her empty nest? Will she go back to college for a degree in art? Will her brooding watercolors ever sell?
Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her previous tales (Summer Island, 2001, etc.).Pub Date: July 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-345-45071-X
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2002
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
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