A subtle and vivid tale of finding peace in the great outdoors.
A young man overcomes grief as he backpacks one of North America’s most arduous trails in a novel that celebrates nature and companionship.
When Gil’s mother asks him to join his father’s old friend Syd and hike the John Muir Trail—220 miles across the top of the Sierra Nevada mountains—Gil is less than thrilled. His mother thinks that the hike will help Gil get his life back on track, but he thinks he’s doing just fine watching kung fu movies, casually hooking up with women, and drinking to excess. In addition, Gil doesn’t want to be responsible for Syd, who’s dying of leukemia; indeed, Gil is convinced that the older man won’t be able to complete the hike. However, Gil is curious to learn more about his father, who passed away a decade ago, so he goes on the trip, ready to cut it short if necessary. So begins a story of two men, bonded by loss, who undertake one of America’s most challenging and beautiful hikes. The more time they spend on the trail, the more they develop a companionable rhythm. Initially miserable, Gil slowly learns to appreciate the nature around him, the community of fellow backpackers, and Syd himself, who’s full of wisdom and tales of how the John Muir Trail came to be. In his debut novel, Gallogly deftly mixes a history of people who helped to preserve the American wilderness with a portrayal of backpacking culture, all while unraveling a realistic story of a young man caught in a cycle of grieving and loss. Although the text is didactic at times, the author shines in his descriptions of the natural world as well as in his methodical portrayal of Gil and Syd’s blossoming relationship. The transformative power of nature is a palpable force that drives the narrative, which is at its best when it focuses on how outdoor living can foster human connection.
A subtle and vivid tale of finding peace in the great outdoors.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7374192-2-8
Page Count: 356
Publisher: SIERRA NEVADA PRESS
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.
An artwork’s value grows if you understand the stories of the people who inspired it.
Never in her wildest dreams would foster kid Louisa dream of meeting C. Jat, the famous painter of The One of the Sea, which depicts a group of young teens on a pier on a hot summer’s day. But in Backman’s latest, that’s just what happens—an unexpected (but not unbelievable) set of circumstances causes their paths to collide right before the dying 39-year-old artist’s departure from the world. One of his final acts is to bequeath that painting to Louisa, who has endured a string of violent foster homes since her mother abandoned her as a child. Selling the painting will change her life—but can she do it? Before deciding, she accompanies Ted, one of the artist’s close friends and one of the young teens captured in that celebrated painting, on a train journey to take the artist’s ashes to his hometown. She wants to know all about the painting, which launched Jat’s career at age 14, and the circle of beloved friends who inspired it. The bestselling author of A Man Called Ove (2014) and other novels, Backman gives us a heartwarming story about how these friends, set adrift by the violence and unhappiness of their homes, found each other and created a new definition of family. “You think you’re alone,” one character explains, “but there are others like you, people who stand in front of white walls and blank paper and only see magical things. One day one of them will recognize you and call out: ‘You’re one of us!’” As Ted tells stories about his friends—how Jat doubted his talents but found a champion in fiery Joar, who took on every bully to defend him; how Ali brought an excitement to their circle that was “like a blinding light, like a heart attack”—Louisa recognizes herself as a kindred soul and feels a calling to realize her own artistic gifts. What she decides to do with the painting is part of a caper worthy of the stories that Ted tells her. The novel is humorous, poignant, and always life-affirming, even when describing the bleakness of the teens’ early lives. “Art is a fragile magic, just like love,” as someone tells Louisa, “and that’s humanity’s only defense against death.”
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781982112820
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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