An intimate, engrossing, rough-and-tumble look at what can be gleaned from life.
A semiautobiographical novel covers one man’s long path to maturity.
Frank presents the story of Jeff Williams. At the outset of the book, the year is 1992, and Jeff, 45, is in the ICU. More about why Jeff is in the hospital is revealed later in the tale. The important thing at this point is that Jeff’s dire circumstances allow him to develop a personal relationship with Death. “Big D,” as Jeff casually refers to him, has much to share. As Jeff tells his story, beginning with his fraught childhood in Utah, Big D chimes in at the end of every chapter with advice to impart. This is usually geared toward taking responsibility for one’s life. Concepts include “You are the creator of your life,” and “There is nothing in your life that didn’t consciously, or unconsciously, require YOU for it to be there.” Whether it is the uncaring atmosphere Jeff experiences in an orphanage or his tumultuous time in the Army, there is extensive material for the protagonist and Big D to examine. Jeff’s tale is a distinct one. He recounts that he was adopted, lived in a number of rugged places (like Fry Canyon, Utah, and New South Wales, Australia), and although drafted into the military during the Vietnam War, he spent a great deal of his service time in South Korea. It is in these unexpected, highly personal details that the book is most engaging. Readers are given an account of issues such as why American soldiers are advised not to marry local South Korean women while serving abroad (though many, including Jeff, do anyway). Later portions are not always as memorable. For instance, Jeff explains complications at different jobs (a bad manager here, pay schedule changes there) that, while relatable, do not as fully capture the imagination the way something like being on red alert near the DMZ does. Yet the conversations with a personification of death lend an intriguing element to the narrative. The author is not simply recollecting through Jeff, he is also analyzing and learning. The opinions expressed ultimately come with a lifetime of experiences to back them up.
An intimate, engrossing, rough-and-tumble look at what can be gleaned from life.Pub Date: May 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73-483670-7
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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