Occasionally disjointed—some parts were previously published as magazine pieces—but this tale of trials and triumph is an...
A single woman’s spunky memoir about the hazards and rewards of building a home and a family outside a small Texas town.
Novelist and short-story writer Monroe (English/Texas State Univ.; Shambles, 2004, etc.) adopted Marie, an African-American baby, and raised her in the West Texas countryside where single female professors were an oddity and single white women with black babies were unheard of. The child of divorced parents and with two failed marriages behind her, the author wanted to create a loving family of her own, but first she had to fashion a suitable home out of a rundown cabin she owned. How she became her own contractor and handled the assorted workmen who didn’t know how to deal with a female boss could have been a stand-alone story, but the author integrates it into the larger context of motherly love. Single motherhood is challenging, but when race, misdiagnosed illnesses, surgery and the demands of a busy professional life are added, the struggles are compounded. Some problems—e.g., how to handle Marie’s mass of kinky hair—are not exactly serious, but nevertheless time-consuming and frustrating. “If you’re white,” writes the author, “black hair care is a secret,” and she devotes an entire chapter to her dedicated search for the key to that enigma. Finding a mate amid adverse circumstances—the pickings for a female professional are slim in rural West Texas—presents another problem, but the central issue is the journey of parenting. At the end, Marie is a joyous ten-year-old, teetering on the threshold of independence, and Monroe is on the verge of a new marriage.
Occasionally disjointed—some parts were previously published as magazine pieces—but this tale of trials and triumph is an engaging, poignant read.Pub Date: June 30, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-87074-560-7
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Southern Methodist Univ.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2010
Just what it sounds like. Journalist Saline (Dr. Snow, 1988) and Pulitzer Prizewinning photojournalist Wohlmuth present brief portraits of 36 sets of sisters. Wohlmuth's intelligent photographs capture a range of sisterly feeling from the severe to the giggly, while the texts function as plainspoken testimonials to the pleasures, difficulties, and duration of the sisterly bond. The sisters come in groups of two and up; some are infants, some in their 90s; two sisters are Sisters in the Roman Catholic Church; and, family values embracing transsexuality, one sister used to be her sister's brother. Some sisters are anonymous and others famous: Coretta Scott (King) and Edythe; supermodel Christy Turlington and her two sisters, Erin and Kelly; the Mandrell sisters; Wendy Wasserstein and her sibs, Sandra and Georgette. But the point isn't celebrity. The point is to celebrate the enduring relationship between girl-children.
Pub Date: Oct. 5, 1994
ISBN: 1-56138-450-X
Page Count: 136
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
A merry, if uneven, romp through an end-times conspiracy.
A novel about the end of cheap energy features compelling characters, dysfunctional families and a good dose of black humor.
Set against the lush backdrop of Tampa Bay, Fla., this novel combines the politics of peak oil and economic apartheid with characters and situations that rival Carl Hiaasen’s in their absurdity and black humor. Liz Delaney, recently widowed and inching herself back into life in a new career as a mental health professional, meets Bud Jackson, a renegade journalist whose discoveries about the truth behind the worldwide energy economy land him in a mental institution. What ensues is seven days of hectic revelations about the potential collapse of everyday life, brushes with death, social commentary, examinations of power and an arch look at our healthcare system. Added to the mix are Liz’s blackmailing and murdering quadriplegic brother, his nymphomaniac wife, an evangelical plastic surgeon who runs the Born Again Clinic and a wise professor in a mangrove swamp, among other memorable characters. And yes, there is a hurricane. Despite of–or because of–these elements, this surreal narrative works. Strong descriptions of patients and staff make the hospital and institutional settings compelling in their compassion and humanity. Wry humor in discussions of consumer behavior and greed relieves the polemic that drives the novel. While the main narrative is an apocalyptic one, larger-than-life characters and wacky situations–like the huge hired bomb maker who wears a bright yellow shirt and is interrupted, twice, while trying to set a car bomb–engage the reader. Unfortunately, humor and family dysfunction diminish as the story reaches its climax. Action-packed scenes and plot turns excite, but character development and dialogue become mired down with socio-political rhetoric: “people are placated by dreams of wealth while a distant upper stream actually benefits from their labors.” Still, a taut plot, hilarious characters and a vivid portrayal of different aspects of health–mental, environmental and cultural–provide a rollicking read.
A merry, if uneven, romp through an end-times conspiracy.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2008
ISBN: 978-1419690648
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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