Although a somewhat-predictable stalking subplot wraps up a little too neatly, the book succeeds as a well-developed...
A talented but troubled surgeon searches for personal and professional redemption in MacDonald’s debut novel.
At one time, Dr. Phil Graham had it all. A successful surgeon praised for his professionalism and rapport with his patients, he’s also happily married to Joan, the love of his life. Graham believes he has the perfect life until a car accident takes the life of his wife and leaves him with severe scars, both physical and emotional. Although he tries to rebuild his world and return to his medical practice, he increasingly finds himself numbing the pain with alcohol and casual sex. The changes in Graham’s lifestyle eventually lead to a series of outbursts in the operating room that threaten his career. Just when Graham’s life and career reach their lowest ebb, he meets Amanda Fellows, the sister of one of his patients, who offers a second chance at love. While Graham takes the first steps toward romance with Amanda, a one-night stand with a woman named Dawn comes back to haunt him when he finds himself stalked by her husband. MacDonald’s brisk, compact narrative is tightly focused on Graham, a compassionate surgeon whose present troubles may be rooted in a tragic childhood. Some of the most effective elements of the novel involve Graham’s interactions with his colleagues and patients. These supporting characters aren’t anonymous set decoration; in many respects, they’re as clearly defined as Graham. An unexpected detour in the action occurs when Graham decides to unravel the secrets of his childhood; however, MacDonald convincingly connects Graham’s past to his current problems. The novel stumbles a bit when it comes to Graham’s ill-fated one-night stand with Dawn. Graham’s initial attraction to her and his reluctance to continue the fling are well-defined, but Dawn and her husband remain murky peripheral characters in a subplot that ultimately seems excessive.
Although a somewhat-predictable stalking subplot wraps up a little too neatly, the book succeeds as a well-developed character study of a man in the midst of a personal crisis.Pub Date: April 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-1495203459
Page Count: 216
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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