A contemporary romantic soufflÇ: boy meets girl, girl already has fiancÇ, girl dumps fiancÇ, boy dumps girl. Bartolomeo’s witty debut novel embraces the pitfalls and pratfalls of modern romance as they assail Diana Campanella, who’s never wanted anything but some peace and quiet. Which is what she thought she had with Philip, a high-powered D.C. attorney with Mayflower roots. Their three-year engagement, however, has turned into the monotony of married life, without even the redeeming fun of a wedding and honeymoon to look back on. To compound the depressing effect of Diana’s relationship, her beloved vintage clothing boutique seems to be failing; it’s likely she—ll soon have to go back to her Washington desk job promoting the benefits of nuclear energy. And then into her life walks Harry Sandburg, handsome, charming, basically soulmate material. A friend of her sister Cynthia’s (an infamous New York lingerie model involved with a married soap opera star), Harry has just relocated to D.C. after a messy separation from his wife. He proceeds to sweep Diana off her feet just as Philip is ready for the big commitment’setting a date for the wedding. Two-timing Philip isn—t easy for good Catholic girl Diana, but on the wings of Harry’s love comes further good fortune—with Cynthia’s help, her shop is becoming the toast of the town. Then, just as Diana’s life seems to be fitting together—Harry’s passion, the shop’s success, Philip finally dumped—Harry goes back to New York to reconcile with his wife. Will a repentant Diana marry Philip? Will she fight for Harry? Will she stop bickering with her crotchety Italian pop? Can a girl find happiness in the backwaters of Washington? Chances are that she can, and the finale has our heroine looking fine in the arms of true love. Amusing, but so light that if you breathe on the page, the words will fly right off.
Pub Date: May 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-684-83977-6
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
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
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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