A historical novel in which an abused young girl finds the strength to stand up for herself.
All is not well in the Arkwright family. In 1962, recently divorced Althea has moved with her three children—Lars, Nell and Lottie—from Chicago to London, the first stop on a pilgrimage to Israel. Unemployed and plagued by unpredictable moods, Althea is more focused on composing a narrative poem about the life of St. Paul than caring for her children. But she’s also committed to nurturing their creative spirits, including dedicating some of the family’s limited funds to pay for 9-year-old Lottie’s piano lessons with Master Rory, a talented 24-year-old concert pianist. Lottie is a gifted musician, but Rory’s interest in her goes beyond teaching her scales. He abuses her sexually, exploiting her mother’s trust in him and manipulating Lottie so that she says nothing of his crimes. As Althea’s condition deteriorates, Rory insinuates himself into the family, buying them food and inviting them to his country estate. But when Rory moves to assume guardianship of the Arkwright children, Lottie takes matters into her own hands. In her latest novel, Gates (Praying for Rain, 2014) offers a glimpse into the psyche of an abused child, from her feelings of shame and fear to her affection for her abuser and desire to please him. As a result, Lottie is by turns heartbreaking and charming. She’s still young enough to trust in her mother’s addled fantasies of speaking to God but old enough to suspect that there is something seriously wrong with her family, and especially with Rory’s unhealthy fixation on her. Gates also skillfully shows how abuse can go unnoticed, even by those closest to the victim, as Lottie’s family sees Rory as a savior, not a deviant. Midcentury London comes to life through period details (Beatles songs on the radio, Little Noddy on the “telly”) as well as Lottie’s sometimes-incongruous cockney accent. Even characters who behave badly are sympathetic at times, including Althea and even Rory, particularly when his own history of abuse is revealed. But the smart, funny and wounded Lottie remains the story’s heart and soul.
A troubling but perhaps necessary portrait of abuse handled with grace and sensitivity.
Pub Date: Feb. 22, 2014
ISBN: 978-0988890695
Page Count: 282
Publisher: Wells Street Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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