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DRINKING THE KNOCK WATER

Name: DRINKING THE KNOCK WATER
Author: Emily Kemme
ISBN: 978-0-9837401-2-4

A NEW AGE PILGRIMAGE

by Emily Kemme ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 27, 2017

An unfocused but positive tale of moving forward through unexpected circumstances.

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Fertility doctors confront the lingering effects of personal and cultural emotional trauma.

Holly and Roger Thomas have a stable marriage, fulfilling careers, and a son practicing for his bar mitzvah. Holly insists on throwing a birthday party each year—complete with gifts—for their stillborn daughter, but Roger doesn’t complain. His Catholic brother and sister-in-law, however, find fault with Holly, primarily because she’s Jewish. Her religion haunts her, almost as much as the death of her daughter: “Had [Holly’s] father been a Bar Mitzvah? Or his father back in Germany? It bothered her suddenly, the not knowing.” Kemme (In Search of Sushi Tora, 2011) highlights her characters’ cultures and beliefs in order to explore themes of belonging, cultural assimilation, and self-acceptance. She also builds a diverse cast of secondary players—married couples (and one mother-daughter couple) who’ve signed onto the Thomases’ annual Fertility Tour across the British Isles, which aims to help couples communicate better. There’s Rachel and Leah, lesbians who are all too aware that other people see them as outsiders; Edgar and Neha, an Indian couple; George, a Jewish rapper, and his wife, Sheila; and Winn and Lillit, a couple with deep problems. Each of these couples has stretches of narration devoted to their marriages, but only some of them get nuanced character arcs. When Kemme does develop these secondary characters, though, their storylines are compelling; Edgar is shown to desire a child, for instance, because “Acceptance depended on assimilation….People with children might be accepted into the circles he wished to enter.” Yet the abundance of storylines results in a scattered narrative, and the time that Kemme devotes to these side characters distracts from Holly’s emotional catharsis. Still, the author often beautifully depicts Holly’s self-doubt as she explores different aspects of overcoming trauma.

An unfocused but positive tale of moving forward through unexpected circumstances.

Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-9837401-2-4

Page Count: 288

Publisher: ArrowHead Publishing

Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.