A thoughtful literary novel exploring the shadows of cultural identity and the mirage of assimilation.
A “Pandora’s box of the whys” has earned Anna Sinclair, a Caribbean-American immigrant, the position of editor of Equiano, a specialty imprint of Windsor, a New York publishing house.
But Anna is divorced, nearing 40, coping with an ailing mother and facing complications at work. In Nunez’s (Anna In-Between, 2009, etc.) latest, the author further explores immigrant life, a life where a hard-working woman can progress up the corporate ladder, buy an apartment in a soon-to-be trendy neighborhood, and still be plagued by outsider’s angst. The story begins with Anna, edits completed on a promising literary novel, visiting her home island. She finds her mother refusing medical attention for obvious breast cancer. Anna pressures her to seek care. Eventually the case comes to Paul Bishop, a family friend and now a prominent surgeon in New Jersey. Paul agrees to perform the operation if Anna’s mother agrees to have it done off-island. Paul also persuades Anna that they might find a personal connection. Anna’s intrigued, but she is anxious about mother’s condition and stressed by dramatic changes at work, including a new “assistant editor” hired without her input. The book expands to follow Anna into the jungle of modern-day publishing. After promises and subterfuge, the new hire, Tim Greene, an African-American with an unconventional childhood, becomes her boss. He closes her specialty imprint, making clear he believes her heritage leaves her disconnected audiences who want “chick-lit” and “ghetto-lit.” Anna feels lost, trapped by cultural discrimination. She grows as a sympathetic character, and the author brings her reticent British-black culture parents to life as they travel to the U.S., cope with surgery, reveal themselves. Anna begins to understand her parents’ love for her in spite of their reserved nature, and she finds their wisdom, and Paul’s love, key to coping with the discrimination she faces at work.
A thoughtful literary novel exploring the shadows of cultural identity and the mirage of assimilation.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-61775-033-5
Page Count: 275
Publisher: Akashic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
A tour de force.
In 1974, a troubled Vietnam vet inherits a house from a fallen comrade and moves his family to Alaska.
After years as a prisoner of war, Ernt Allbright returned home to his wife, Cora, and daughter, Leni, a violent, difficult, restless man. The family moved so frequently that 13-year-old Leni went to five schools in four years. But when they move to Alaska, still very wild and sparsely populated, Ernt finds a landscape as raw as he is. As Leni soon realizes, “Everyone up here had two stories: the life before and the life now. If you wanted to pray to a weirdo god or live in a school bus or marry a goose, no one in Alaska was going to say crap to you.” There are many great things about this book—one of them is its constant stream of memorably formulated insights about Alaska. Another key example is delivered by Large Marge, a former prosecutor in Washington, D.C., who now runs the general store for the community of around 30 brave souls who live in Kaneq year-round. As she cautions the Allbrights, “Alaska herself can be Sleeping Beauty one minute and a bitch with a sawed-off shotgun the next. There’s a saying: Up here you can make one mistake. The second one will kill you.” Hannah’s (The Nightingale, 2015, etc.) follow-up to her series of blockbuster bestsellers will thrill her fans with its combination of Greek tragedy, Romeo and Juliet–like coming-of-age story, and domestic potboiler. She re-creates in magical detail the lives of Alaska's homesteaders in both of the state's seasons (they really only have two) and is just as specific and authentic in her depiction of the spiritual wounds of post-Vietnam America.
A tour de force.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-312-57723-0
Page Count: 448
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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