Ultra-clever, and moving, too.
Psychological thriller, crime novel and “what-if” sequel to The Great Gatsby—with significant twists.
Schizophrenic, yes, and alcoholic—but Bobbie Crocker isn’t your stereotypical street person. Bohjalian (Before You Know Kindness, 2004, etc.) invests him with mystery; when he dies in Burlington, Vt., he leaves behind photographs from 1960s issues of Life magazine. Eartha Kitt, Dick Van Dyke, Muddy Waters—they’re celebrity shots he took, combined with elegant evocations of Jazz Age Long Island. Laurel Estabrook, social worker at Crocker’s shelter, discovers something else among them: a snapshot of herself riding a bike, just as she had, seven years before, when savaged by two thugs. The attack scarring her, she’d retreated into PTSD therapy, affairs with comforting, if noncommittal, father figures and a life less of ambition than service. Crocker’s photos provide Laurel clues to their strangely interconnected pasts—and she sets out to decode them. Had the homeless man actually been to the manor born, son of Tom and Daisy Buchanan of fabled West Egg? His sister denies it, having spent most of her 70 years trying to whitewash her parents’ reputation—Tom’s brutality and Daisy’s suspicious involvement in the car crash that killed one of his lovers. Had those wealthy, morally bankrupt parents caused Bobbie’s “double bind,” provoking schizophrenia by instilling in an unwanted child love/hate mixed messages? Or could Bobbie’s father be someone yet more notorious, the darkly glamorous star of Fitzgerald’s masterpiece? And why was Laurel’s own likeness found in Crocker’s cache? Sleuthing obsessively, she discovers that Bobbie had a son himself, a boy who grew up to terrify his father. And terrify her. Conflating literary lore, photographic analysis and meditations on homelessness and mental illness, Bohjalian produces his best and most complex fiction yet.
Ultra-clever, and moving, too.Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2007
ISBN: 1-4000-4746-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Shaye Areheart/Harmony
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2007
With this so-so historical novel, Chase-Riboud (Echo of Lions, 1988, etc.) returns to the scene of her first work, Sally Hemings (not reviewed), to pick up the story of Harriet Hemings, the daughter of slave Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson promised Sally Hemings that their children, who were slaves at Monticello, would be allowed to ``stroll'' at 21—that is, their running away would be ignored but they would not officially be freed. When she reaches that age in 1822, Harriet Hemings is escorted to Philadelphia by an old friend of Jefferson's, changes her name to Harriet Petit, and begins passing as a white woman. The juicy premise delivers some insights into the nature and definition of race, but Chase-Riboud's clumsy use of history gives some sections the feeling of a virtual-reality game- -now you are watching Sojourner Truth give her famous ``Ain't I a Woman'' speech; now you are witnessing discussions about the Dred Scott case. Broader historical information is less intrusive, like Petit's close friendship with Charlotte Waverly, which eventually becomes a sexual relationship of the type that was common among middle-class women at the time. Although Petit narrates most of the time, she is interrupted intermittently by other characters- -including Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln—whose sections end with preachy proclamations. It is unclear exactly what these are meant to accomplish, since they use formal language to announce facts that certainly would not have been made public at the time. In any case, these voices are all less effective than Petit's. A scene in which she returns to Monticello after Jefferson's death and spies a list of slaves to be auctioned off—including her own mother entered at 50 dollars—is particularly chilling. Lacking literary finesse, but still powerful enough to tarnish the reputation of yet another dead white man.
Pub Date: Oct. 19, 1994
ISBN: 0-517-59861-2
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1994
A fun, feisty, feminist romp through Jewish folklore as an ancient spirit returns to haunt a modern-day London lesbian. Two hundred years ago, when Anya's lover, Gittel, broke her promise of ``undying sisterhood'' by marrying a Torah scholar, Anya conjured up a vicious curse whereby Gittel and every first-born female descendant for 33 generations would be possessed by a dybbuk and bear only daughters. Dybbuk Kokos, the soul-stealer who gets assigned this job by the Head Office, runs into trouble when the family turns to her nemesis, the Sage of Limnititzk, for help; he drives Kokos from Gittel and traps her in a tree. When a bolt of lightning releases Kokos two centuries later, her reacclimation to modern times proves challenging. The Head Office has been taken over by a high-tech multinational corporation with everything from a plan to terminate her contract to an employee health club. (Who knew demons had to watch their figures?) Kokos insists on tracking down Gittel's 20th-century descendant, but she discovers that Rainbow Rosenbloom, a political, lesbian film-critic-cum-taxi- driver, is a tough nut to haunt. Everyone from the bevy of aunts who look after her to her friends and co-workers already consider Rainbow a little crazy, so Kokos has to modify her approach; instead of making Rainbow lose it, she makes her into a Nice Jewish Girl. On the trail of a beautiful but straight orthodox woman, Rainbow even considers marrying a man and returning to her roots to be closer to her dream girl. This plan serves Kokos well, since it also ensures future generations to haunt. But Galford (Queendom Come, not reviewed) closes the novel with a surprise twist that shows just how formidable Rainbow can be. Craft, camp, and chutzpah.
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1994
ISBN: 1-878067-51-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Seal Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1994
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