Though the period and the themes are those of the Vietnam era, a more perennial and primordial war—that between a mother and daughter—dominates this latest novel from Spencer (Jack of Diamonds, etc.). The times are the 60's and early 70's, and the settings range from North Carolina to Montreal to Vietnam, but the one constant is the relationship between Mary Kerr and her mother, Kate. Mary, a talented young dancer and gentle child, loves her father best, and when he dies of a heart attack, her mother as usual blames her. The two women move into a smaller home; Mary continues at school, resumes her dancing lessons (a concession from her disapproving mother); and Kate, a scientist, works on secret defense-related projects in the lab of the local university. One summer while staying with Kate's family (except for granny, all stereotype rednecks), Mary meets Jeff Blaise, a young activist increasingly involved in the antiwar movement. Jeff and Mary fall in love, which angers Kate: she not only disapproves of Jeff's politics but is sexually attracted to him. Then, as antiwar protests escalate, Jeff becomes even more involved, Mary continues to dance, and Kate marries the wealthy Fred of Philadelphia—but she can never let go of Mary—or Jeff. Fleeing the draft, the couple head for Montreal; a daughter is born; Jeff disappears; and Mary's attempted suicide gives Kate another opportunity to interfere. Still obsessed with Jeff, Kate makes Fred track down the hiding Jeff, and then has him sent off to Vietnam—with predictable consequences. Poor Mary is left to ``dance it out,'' as she always has. Vivid and nicely varied settings, but the politics seem dated, and Kate, the monster mother, remains an enigma—as does everyone else here, though they all talk up a storm and keep diaries. Readable but thin.
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-670-83915-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1991
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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