A feathery feel-good story about triumph over adversity—probably another hit for Berg.
A quadriplegic mother, the 1964 Summer of Freedom and a timely visit from Elvis all come to play in Berg’s latest quick-read tearjerker.
During this historic summer in Mississippi, 13-year-old Diana Dunn is less concerned with black-voter registration (in fact, she’s not quite sure what all the fuss is about) than putting on backyard plays with best friend Suralee, and carving out some kind of independence from a life of caring for her disabled mother. Late in her pregnancy, Diana’s mother Paige contracted polio, and then miraculously gave birth to Diana in an iron lung. Her husband quickly divorced her and offered to adopt their baby, but Paige was made of stronger stuff and insisted on raising Diana herself. After three years in the iron lung, Paige returned home (Diana is raised by caretaker Peacie) paralyzed below the neck, and with a fierce determination to do right by her daughter. The two share a warm, companionable relationship, as Paige rules the roost despite her immobility (Diana obediently offers up a finger for Paige to bite whenever she misbehaves). In fact, Paige is a bit of a wonder—she has a couple of suitors, she paints, writes songs and always has time for backyard sunbathing. No-nonsense Peacie helps care for Paige and Diana, and through her and her boyfriend LaRue, the struggle for civil rights comes to the Dunn household. LaRue has recently learned how to read and has become politicized, despite the Sheriff’s ominous warning not to cause trouble. Diana’s teen worries (kissing for the first time, among them) are soon overshadowed by the difficulties of real life, including LaRue’s imprisonment and the very real potential of social services putting her in foster care. Berg (The Year of Pleasures, 2005, etc.) has the components of a forceful drama in place, but her tale lacks emotional resonance and offers an ending that defies the rest of the novel’s realism.
A feathery feel-good story about triumph over adversity—probably another hit for Berg.Pub Date: April 11, 2006
ISBN: 1-4000-6161-X
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
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
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