A slightly overwrought family drama set against a fascinating backdrop of late-20th-century Middle Eastern politics.
A woman from Syracuse, New York, makes her first trip to Jordan with her immigrant father to celebrate King Hussein’s 60th birthday.
The 1995 monthlong birthday festivities are the government’s attempt to highlight Jordan’s influence in the region and Hussein’s peacemaking skills. Hafez Hamdan, a Yale-educated adviser to the king, has invited his younger brother, Gabe, who (like Abu-Jaber’s father) had been the king’s sparring partner years earlier, to participate in a fencing demonstration with the king. Gabe’s daughter, Amani, a recently divorced poet and professor, joins Gabe on the trip, her curiosity concerning her family history whetted after finding a scrap of poetry written and translated into English by her long-dead grandmother. Along the way she uncovers a dark family secret concerning a long-lost relative. Amani is the usual contemporary heroine of this somewhat contrived romantic melodrama: She starts as passive and insecure; then, through a series of plot manipulations and skillfully described adventures, particularly getting lost alone overnight in the desert, she discovers inner strength as well as the love of a courtly, handsome man who's half Muslim and half Jew. Inadvertently, Amani also upends Hafez’s private agenda for the Hamdan brothers’ reunion, plans motivated by a combination of greed, envy, simmering resentment, and genuine affection for his favorite niece. Hafez is a disturbing villain: a feminist, an intellectual, and a loyal aide to his king but also selfish, vengeful, anti-democratic. And perhaps murderous. The novel’s third, most complex protagonist is Jordan itself. Abu-Jaber focuses on the ruling-class Hamdan family—generous, striving, proud of their Bedouin and Orthodox Christian roots. Jordan’s poor are meagerly represented by stereotypically devoted servants and noble traditional Bedouins. Personifying Jordan, King Hussein is idealized as a grand-hearted optimist, a warrior for peace; but his government’s secret police allow no opposition, and corruption is the norm. While Abu-Jaber glories in Jordan’s beauty and culture, the shadows of poverty and authoritarianism are ever present.
A slightly overwrought family drama set against a fascinating backdrop of late-20th-century Middle Eastern politics.Pub Date: March 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-393-86771-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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