Uneven but spottily entertaining.
A debut tragicomic romance about a woman’s dark past catching up to her.
Glamorous Los Angeles lounge singer Davie Jones grew up Davidia Jones in a poor, abusive, fatherless family in small-town Mississippi. Beaten into literal silence by her prostitute mother, Davie becomes the invisible girl. When the rich Farell family comes to town, Davie falls in love with the Farell heir, James. When his sister, the cartoonishly evil Veronica, finds out, she pulls a prank that proves to be the last straw for Davie, who packs up and runs away. Years later, James and the now successful, charming and vocal Davie cross paths again, and this time, James falls madly in love with her, though the author seems better at describing their steamy sex life than their emotional connection. Veronica reappears and threatens the careful, delicate façade Davie has built for herself since high school. The more frivolous scenes are offset by some surprisingly sober moments. The verbal and physical abuse from Davie’s mother and the school bullying Davie is subjected to are potent and well rendered. Equally touching are the meaningful relationships she forms in L.A. with a truck driver-turned-savior Mama Jones and the gruff nightclub owner, Nicky—easily the most enjoyable member of the cast of characters. Davie and the story take their inspiration from the classic ’80s hit Sixteen Candles, but sometimes the parallels go too far. The narrative would have more impact if it didn’t dismiss every disturbing moment with a scene straight out of a romantic comedy. The love object, James, is as thick as cardboard and twice as boring. Davie is by turns heroic and psychotic, but the simple fact that she is a survivor is enough to keep readers rooting for her, though sometimes only barely. The pacing is steady and having the narrative jump back in time once or twice keeps the plot moving and the fairly shocking revelations coming.
Uneven but spottily entertaining.Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-195784-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2010
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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