An artistic, sympathetic imagining of the life of a 19th-century woman who made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
A historical novel that draws on the real life of Elizabeth “Baby Doe” Tabor, the second wife of a Colorado silver baron.
Raised in the mid-1800s as a Catholic, Lizzie McCourt commits the first of many indiscretions in her life by marrying a Protestant man, Harvey Doe. After a brief marriage, his erratic temperament and addiction to morphine, alcohol, and brothels leads Lizzie to file for divorce—a rare practice at the time, thought by many to be immoral, no matter the justification. This brings shame upon her family and forces her to leave the church. After finding a job at a Colorado silver mine, she promptly falls for Horace Tabor, a wealthy business owner who happens to be significantly older—and already married. She finds love and companionship with him, although the circumstances surrounding their union only leads to further scandal in their small, pious town. Baier Stein (Sympathetic People, 2013, etc.) artfully intertwines her story with some of the real-life Lizzie’s own journal writings, and the author pays tribute to her protagonist by emulating and maintaining the tone of these entries. In doing so, she authentically constructs a complex, compassionate character whose actions readers will support and celebrate. Lizzie’s choices, especially when she ends a doomed marriage, help to show her as a woman who was ahead of her time and worthy of admiration. The book is well-researched in every facet, from its antiquated yet very readable language to its geographical and historical accuracy. Although Baier Stein glosses over some of Lizzie’s inner turmoil, she still shows her to be deliberate in her actions, reflective, and unapologetic. However, although the majority of the narrative is well-paced and engaging, some resolutions seemed rushed.
An artistic, sympathetic imagining of the life of a 19th-century woman who made headlines for all the wrong reasons.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9971010-6-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Serving House Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 6, 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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