The intricately plotted story of a love affair with both a man and a culture, and the painful lessons learned from each.
Gates (Private Lines, 2014, etc.) received her master’s degree in Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies from Thunderbird School of Global Management and lived for five years in Saudi Arabia; she appears to draw on both her academic and personal experiences in the atmospheric, evocative descriptions that enliven this fictional account of a young American ESL teacher abroad. Leaving behind a life of relative aimlessness and a pile of student loan debt, 24-year-old Arden Armstrong accepts a one-year contract teaching English to female college students in Saudi Arabia. Although her motivations were initially adventure and money, she soon finds herself increasingly invested in her students and in her host culture. Despite her fascination with the country, though, she can’t keep herself from agitating for some Western-style reforms, especially with regard to women’s academic achievements. And when a chance meeting with the attractive archaeologist Dr. Faisal Al Ansary turns into multiple chance meetings, and an unexpected connection with one of her students, Arden finds that even the repressive religious and legal strictures can’t keep her from pursuing her desire. But this dangerous relationship turns out to have risks far beyond what she had imagined, and Arden stands to lose everything. Gates’ book overcomes a somewhat slow start to build in intensity toward a satisfying, emotionally resonant conclusion. Along the way, deft pacing and a number of unexpected but credible plot twists will keep readers interested. Dialogue is generally fresh and authentic, main characters are well-developed, and even minor characters have unique personalities skillfully sketched out. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia comes alive as well, with Gates’ poignant depictions providing a haunting backdrop for the fast-paced action. Overall, this complex, enjoyable read will leave readers hoping for more from this talented new writer.
Romance, geopolitical instability and coming-of-age angst in a well-crafted tale.
Pub Date: April 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-0988890671
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Wells Street Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2014
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
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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