Delman's second foray into the mid-19th century (Ain't Goin' to Glory, 1991) is a period/courtroom hybrid—an Age of Presumed Innocence based on the scandalous 1851 case in which America's foremost tragedian and his wife launched countersuits for divorce, each accusing the other of adultery. The principals in the case would have gladdened the hearts of the tabloids. Edwin Forrest, already famous for his magnetic performances and his thespian high-handedness, had recently achieved notoriety of a different kind when a demonstration against Forrest's British rival William Macready staged by the Friends of Forrest, a group of supporters headed by the legendary publicist Ned Buntline, left 22 dead outside the Astor Theater. Catherine Sinclair Forrest, his British wife, was almost equally notorious in more select circles for her advanced views, which saw marriage as economic enslavement and monogamy as unnatural. The two opposing attorneys were Charles O'Conor, who would go on to defend Jefferson Davis and prosecute Boss Tweed, and John Van Buren, son of the former President. And the haplessly stiff-necked crowd of luminaries caught in the crossfire ran the gamut from the late actress Josephine Clifton (who may have enjoyed a liaison with Forrest eight years ago) to Nathaniel Parker Willis, New York's leading magazine editor (publicly accused by the outraged husband as ``the seducer of Catherine Forrest''). In order to reach a verdict, the jury was asked to consider whether Forrest's repeated visits to a house of ill-repute, or his wife's receiving a letter identifying her with the indomitably chaste heroine of a George Sand novel (gasp!), constituted more incriminating behavior. The high-profile players, and the determination of the court to maintain decorum while recording scabrous accusations, make the court proceedings as fascinating as most fictional murder trials. Only in the conventional offstage flourishes—pages from Catherine's diary, the romance of a journalist with one of Catherine's supporters—does Delman disappoint.
Pub Date: Feb. 18, 1994
ISBN: 0-312-10432-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1993
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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