Set in the Victorian era, Wigginton’s first novel centers around Angelina, a fiercely independent woman who does not care for societal norms that confine women.
Angelina is unimpressed with the shortsighted goal of her peers—to get married. She says, “Let’s be clear, I like fashionable clothes and shoes as much as the next girl. But really, does the whole lot of them care for nothing more than making a good match and bringing more children into this world? One might think that a woman is good for nothing more than sitting around and looking pretty.” Angelina is an interesting combination of sophisticated and scrappy. She can charm with wit and grace as she navigates the upper echelons of society or defend herself against thieves and thugs with a dagger. She meets her match in Jude Deveraux, a captain of French privateers. They first meet when he boards her uncle’s ship with plans to pillage. He appreciates her boldness and she, his occasional tenderness, not to mention his rugged good looks. It is a romance novel after all. They fall in love, and some rather steamy scenes ensue. The novel twists and turns and includes persistent bad guys with connections to pagan rituals and human sacrifice. While Angelina is an intelligent, tough-minded lead, she ultimately seems to follow in the footsteps of those very peers she disrespects. Perhaps her saving grace is that her decisions are made mindfully. Stylistically, the novel is somewhat inconsistent. In her narration, Angelina can be quite modern, while the dialogue is Victorian-esque. Also, character development could be tightened; some seem to evolve too quickly. For example, Angelina’s best friend Sarah recovers from a traumatic event with one quick talk, never to speak of it again. Still, these hiccups do not take much away from a fun, engaging fantasy.
Save for a rainy day and escape into this suspenseful, bodice-ripping romp.
Pub Date: June 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-1499038996
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Xlibris
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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
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