Sometimes it’s not all in the details.
Vivid details, graphic sex, and violence in yet another novel about a woman who takes on the world—in this case, an 18th-century Emperor of Morocco.
British newcomer Taylor has done her research, and the story, which has some historical basis, is loaded with appropriate lingo—lots of Scottish expressions and period minutiae. Heroine Helen Gloag, however, is bonnie but not appealing. The narrative alternates between Helen and a Scottish dwarf, Microphilus, an adviser to the Emperor who believes him to be a eunuch like all the other men who have dealings with his harem. When Helen, unmarried but pregnant, flees Scotland and heads for the Colonies, she naturally hopes to make a better life for herself. But pirates attack the ship and Helen finds herself in the harem of the Emperor of Morocco. There are currently three Queens, and the harem women are competing to become the fourth. Except for Thursdays, when the Emperor selects his women for the week, the days pass in grooming, gossiping, and eating—the Emperor likes fat women, and Helen is force-fed like a goose. Her first encounter with the Emperor is a failure, but, helped by Queen Batoom, Microphilus’ lover and confidante, Helen, more a notion than a credible character, becomes an accomplished—and buxom—mistress of the sexual arts. Smitten, the Emperor makes her his fourth Queen and rewards her with sumptuous presents. As Microphilus records Helen’s progress and his own love for her, a young woman escapes, then is captured and brutally tortured, and Helen becomes violently ill. Witchcraft is suspected, but the anxious Microphilus has other suspicions. While he searches for the culprit, he tends to Helen, who has been abandoned by the Emperor since her illness. More deaths follow, and Helen, finally deciding that life as a Queen isn’t all that appealing, makes other plans.
Sometimes it’s not all in the details.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-4000-4925-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.
Hunter’s debut novel tracks the experiences of her family members during the Holocaust.
Sol and Nechuma Kurc, wealthy, cultured Jews in Radom, Poland, are successful shop owners; they and their grown children live a comfortable lifestyle. But that lifestyle is no protection against the onslaught of the Holocaust, which eventually scatters the members of the Kurc family among several continents. Genek, the oldest son, is exiled with his wife to a Siberian gulag. Halina, youngest of all the children, works to protect her family alongside her resistance-fighter husband. Addy, middle child, a composer and engineer before the war breaks out, leaves Europe on one of the last passenger ships, ending up thousands of miles away. Then, too, there are Mila and Felicia, Jakob and Bella, each with their own share of struggles—pain endured, horrors witnessed. Hunter conducted extensive research after learning that her grandfather (Addy in the book) survived the Holocaust. The research shows: her novel is thorough and precise in its details. It’s less precise in its language, however, which frequently relies on cliché. “You’ll get only one shot at this,” Halina thinks, enacting a plan to save her husband. “Don’t botch it.” Later, Genek, confronting a routine bit of paperwork, must decide whether or not to hide his Jewishness. “That form is a deal breaker,” he tells himself. “It’s life and death.” And: “They are low, it seems, on good fortune. And something tells him they’ll need it.” Worse than these stale phrases, though, are the moments when Hunter’s writing is entirely inadequate for the subject matter at hand. Genek, describing the gulag, calls the nearest town “a total shitscape.” This is a low point for Hunter’s writing; elsewhere in the novel, it’s stronger. Still, the characters remain flat and unknowable, while the novel itself is predictable. At this point, more than half a century’s worth of fiction and film has been inspired by the Holocaust—a weighty and imposing tradition. Hunter, it seems, hasn’t been able to break free from her dependence on it.
Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-56308-9
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
BOOK TO SCREEN
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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