Though it’s difficult to invest in the heroine, this whaling ship narrative rights itself with meticulous research and...
Life on a whaling ship is alternately difficult and delightful in Douthart’s debut novel chiefly narrated by one captain’s new wife.
The year is 1859, and the New England whaling town of Falmouth is home to many families with members at sea. Seventeen-year-old Celia Alden, who lives with her widowed mother and older brother, Edward, considers herself lucky not to be one of them. When Edward’s friend Capt. Caleb Jones begins to court her, Celia is quickly swept off her feet. Unable to stomach the idea of waiting behind while Caleb embarks on a whaling expedition, she decides to marry him—but only if he allows her to join him on his ship, Patience, for its three-year voyage. Once at sea, Celia quickly realizes the journey will be much more than she bargained for, as she endures both the dangers inherent to a whaling ship—from seasickness to shattered limbs—and the more intimate challenges involved with being the inexperienced wife of a relative stranger on a vessel with no privacy. Though the Patience’s voyage is captivatingly wrought, Celia’s characterization is shallow and sometimes unbelievable. Her quick about-face from apathy to love toward Caleb (and the evolution of their relationship thereafter) feels unearned, in part because she’s given few defining traits before their entanglement. Several supporting characters capture more interest, from Celia’s mother, a widow determined to keep her terminal illness hidden, to Domingo Arruda, a runaway slave now serving as third mate, to Capt. Jones, who questions the strict rules enacted by his Quaker father. It’s unfortunate that Celia herself lacks a stronger back story, as deeper characterization would have made her journey more compelling. Still, Douthart’s narrative, which benefits from extensive research into real-life ships’ logs and other primary source material, shines in the small details, like the “small silken buttons” on Celia’s wedding dress and the “two huge try pots” on the Patience, which stand waiting for the whale hunts to begin.
Though it’s difficult to invest in the heroine, this whaling ship narrative rights itself with meticulous research and attention to detail.Pub Date: July 4, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-44180-0
Page Count: 422
Publisher: Lonely Cloud Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2015
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
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
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