A middle-aged man with secrets renovates a haunted house in this historical/mystical Western drama from Willerton (The Lady in White, 2012).
Combining the seemingly disparate themes of home repair and shamanic ghost stories, Willerton splits his novel between the tragic tale of the 19th century Mulvaney family and the modern-day redemption story of house restorer Tucker Whitby. Initially dismayed by the enormous size of the house, Tucker decides to buy the storied property from freshly divorced real estate agent Lynn Anderson after he realizes that the house is, in fact, alive. Built in 1869 by corrupt lawyer Cyrus Mulvaney, who later hanged himself from the rafters, the house was given sentience by an unnamed shaman. The mystery of the shaman’s identity is slowly revealed as Tucker and his crew of teenage construction workers restore it. When a pregnant teenager seeks asylum from her unhappy family, Tucker attempts to conquer his past emotional wounds so he can help her. The narrative engages because it embraces its mystical premise. When asked what it’s like to restore a haunted house, Tucker says without irony, “Building with a spirit-partner is something new, but it’s added a flavor to building that I’ve never had.” Like the Bob Villa of haunted houses, Tucker’s love for the project becomes a conduit for him to address the horrors of his own past. Oddly, the house acts as an occasional lovelorn narrator, adding insight into the mystical happenings. Each of the supporting characters wrestles with believable personal struggles, which illuminates their interactions with others. The descriptions of the restoration work, however, are perhaps too meticulously detailed, although restoration aficionados will undoubtedly relish the passages that describe how each section of the house is carefully brought back to life. Tucker’s emotional demons and the impromptu family he creates are fleshy enough to imbue the sanding, painting and rusty stud removal with genuine feeling.
A warm, sometimes overly described tale of a simultaneous restoration of a home and homeowner.
Pub Date: April 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0615974026
Page Count: 292
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 2, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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