This engrossing, well-written novel tells the story of a pivotal moment in Iroquois history through a well-traveled...
A Mohawk boy grows to adulthood in the 12th century and has a front-row seat to the formation of the Iroquois Confederacy.
In this historical novel, Fitz-Gerald (In the Shadow of a Giant, 2017) imagines life in the area that is now the Northeastern United States during the 1100s, following one boy from birth through old age. Wanders Far, one of the People of the Flint, is born into a comfortable clan led by his mother, Bear Fat. From early childhood, he exhibits a taste for exploration that earns him his name (“Fisher put one of his hands on each of his little brother’s shoulders, gave him a single, gentle shake, and proclaimed that Wanders Far was destined to be a runner, a traveler, a messenger between villages, and perhaps between tribes!”). Wanders Far also has a talent for visions. With the help of a mentor, Follows Stars, he foresees the arrival of Hudson, Champlain, and other European explorers hundreds of years in the future as well as the much more proximate unification of his tribe and others into the Iroquois Confederacy, an event that he helps to bring about in his role as a runner. Fitz-Gerald has clearly done his research into early Mohawk life, and the book features many elaborate descriptions of daily activities (“Bear Fat and Squash used bone awls to poke holes into the birch bark and used the spruce roots as stitching to sew the seams”). The novel is based on Iroquois oral tradition (the story of Hiawatha; the circumstances of the confederacy’s founding) combined with fictional characters and events. Some readers may feel that Fitz-Gerald indulges in “just the sort of leap the author of an historical novel gets to make,” taking undue liberties with Iroquois history. But for those who enjoy an invented version of the past, this work presents a solidly written tale with engaging characters and ample details, making for an enjoyable read.
This engrossing, well-written novel tells the story of a pivotal moment in Iroquois history through a well-traveled protagonist.Pub Date: May 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-977211-37-8
Page Count: 198
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Review Posted Online: July 11, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of...
Lifelong, conflicted friendship of two women is the premise of Hannah’s maudlin latest (Magic Hour, 2006, etc.), again set in Washington State.
Tallulah “Tully” Hart, father unknown, is the daughter of a hippie, Cloud, who makes only intermittent appearances in her life. Tully takes refuge with the family of her “best friend forever,” Kate Mularkey, who compares herself unfavorably with Tully, in regards to looks and charisma. In college, “TullyandKate” pledge the same sorority and major in communications. Tully has a life goal for them both: They will become network TV anchorwomen. Tully lands an internship at KCPO-TV in Seattle and finagles a producing job for Kate. Kate no longer wishes to follow Tully into broadcasting and is more drawn to fiction writing, but she hesitates to tell her overbearing friend. Meanwhile a love triangle blooms at KCPO: Hard-bitten, irresistibly handsome, former war correspondent Johnny is clearly smitten with Tully. Expecting rejection, Kate keeps her infatuation with Johnny secret. When Tully lands a reporting job with a Today-like show, her career shifts into hyperdrive. Johnny and Kate had started an affair once Tully moved to Manhattan, and when Kate gets pregnant with daughter Marah, they marry. Kate is content as a stay-at-home mom, but frets about being Johnny’s second choice and about her unrealized writing ambitions. Tully becomes Seattle’s answer to Oprah. She hires Johnny, which spells riches for him and Kate. But Kate’s buttons are fully depressed by pitched battles over slutwear and curfews with teenaged Marah, who idolizes her godmother Tully. In an improbable twist, Tully invites Kate and Marah to resolve their differences on her show, only to blindside Kate by accusing her, on live TV, of overprotecting Marah. The BFFs are sundered. Tully’s latest attempt to salvage Cloud fails: The incorrigible, now geriatric hippie absconds once more. Just as Kate develops a spine, she’s given some devastating news. Will the friends reconcile before it’s too late?
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of poignancy.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-312-36408-3
Page Count: 496
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2007
BOOK TO SCREEN
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