An overlong epic where the historical detail obscures the human narrative at its heart.
This sweeping historical novel follows the titular pioneer from her adolescence to old age, cataloguing the early history of Canada in the context of her life.
Born in rural Canada in the mid-nineteenth century, Lily is introduced as a rough-hewn, taciturn, and uncompromising woman: uneducated and short on opportunity, but blessed with plenty of backbone. Orphaned following the death of her mother and abandonment by her father, she is taken in by her caring Aunt Bridie and Uncle Chester, who give her their last name, teach her farming, and instruct her in how to sell their wares at the weekend market. While not always a direct actor in them, Lily is often used to bear witness to the events of her time: the influx of escaped slaves from the Underground Railroad, a visit from the Prince of Wales, the unrelenting construction of railways in Canada, and so on. The young Prince Edward’s 1860 visit is one of the richer diversions in the novel: after meeting Lily, he swiftly fathers a daughter, who Lily is forced to give up to a wealthy Toronto family to be raised. Events such as this one characterize Lily’s life: beholden to a male-dominated society, and grimly accepting of her fate, all of it told in Gutteridge’s (The Rebellion Mysteries: Turncoat, Solemn Vows, Vital Secrets 2012, etc.) patient, lilting prose. One of the more affecting passages relays her courtship with the soldier Tom Marshall, a Londoner who eventually becomes Lily’s husband and the father to her children. A central narrative is eschewed in favor of an impressionistic portrayal of Lily’s life, however, with diversions not just accepted but the central feature of Gutteridge’s storytelling. What’s clear is that, while his sentence construction is at times lovely, he is in dire need of an editor: seemingly unable to separate an interesting historical fact from one that might be of service to his narrative, the novel comes across as shapeless and meandering. Much like a life, to be sure, but prioritizing historical meticulousness over a gripping narrative renders the book frustratingly unfocused.
An overlong epic where the historical detail obscures the human narrative at its heart.Pub Date: March 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1770843882
Page Count: 618
Publisher: Bev Editions
Review Posted Online: Jan. 23, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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