A tale of motherly manipulation in which unanswered prayers on earth mirror the unanswered questions that remain, even in...
Powell’s debut novel, the story of two couples searching for love and forgiveness, begins, ironically, with two funerals.
Catherine O’Keefe, beloved mother of Sarah, Paul and Karen, died of a massive heart attack at the age of 54 and ended up in heaven, where she’s certainly not at peace. She never thought she’d be able to see her own funeral, but with the aid of a cap-wearing angel named Oliver, she witnesses her grieving children and yearns to help her eldest, Sarah, who’s also dealing with the recent death of her husband. The other funeral, that of Dr. David Kelly, occurs in the same cemetery and for a brief moment, Sarah meets Dan, David’s son. Later, she dreams about her mother’s new life in heaven, unaware that her detailed visions are real, even down to the “lime-colored polka dot dress” Catherine wears on the other side. Concerned, Sarah’s siblings ask her to seek help, but she refuses, choosing to bury herself in her grief and confide in her adoptive sister, Sharlene, who, along with her runaway, HIV-positive sister, Lakisha, was taken in by the O’Keefe family as a foster child. While Catherine and David, with the bungling assistance and snappy dialogue of Oliver, play matchmaker with West Coast Sarah and East Coast Dan, Dan’s soon-to-be-ex-wife, Rachel and his cruel mother, Anna, have other plans. Setting a novel in both New York and San Francisco, with their rich, individual atmospheres is ambitious, but to try to capture all of that and heaven, too, takes an ability the narrator’s cut-and-dried style lacks. By naming landmarks—the Golden Gate Bridge, Rockefeller Plaza or the “Magic Tree” and “Flower Tunnel” in heaven—the book invokes, rather than evokes, the unique atmosphere of each. The dialogue displays an easy humor and, despite the hardships faced, an inspirational tone. Although Powell’s depiction of heaven is quirky, her book reminds readers to appreciate the “piece of Heaven on earth” that “we all take for granted.”
A tale of motherly manipulation in which unanswered prayers on earth mirror the unanswered questions that remain, even in heaven.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2011
ISBN: 978-1462031009
Page Count: 172
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.
Another reboot of Jane Austen?!? Hadlow pulls it off in a smart, heartfelt novel devoted to bookish Mary, middle of the five sisters in Pride and Prejudice.
Part 1 recaps Pride and Prejudice through Mary’s eyes, climaxing with the humiliating moment when she sings poorly at a party and older sister Elizabeth goads their father to cut her off in front of everyone. The sisters’ friend Charlotte, who marries the unctuous Mr. Collins after Elizabeth rejects him, emerges as a pivotal character; her conversations with Mary are even tougher-minded here than those with Elizabeth depicted by Austen. In Part 2, two years later, Mary observes on a visit that Charlotte is deferential but remote with her husband; she forms an intellectual friendship with the neglected and surprisingly nice Mr. Collins that leads to Charlotte’s asking Mary to leave. In Part 3, Mary finds refuge in London with her kindly aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner is the second motherly woman, after Longbourn housekeeper Mrs. Hill, to try to undo the psychic damage wrought by Mary’s actual mother, shallow, status-obsessed Mrs. Bennet, by building up her confidence and buying her some nice clothes (funded by guilt-ridden Lizzy). Sure enough, two suitors appear: Tom Hayward, a poetry-loving lawyer who relishes Mary’s intellect but urges her to also express her feelings; and William Ryder, charming but feckless inheritor of a large fortune, whom naturally Mrs. Bennet loudly favors. It takes some maneuvering to orchestrate the estrangement of Mary and Tom, so clearly right for each other, but debut novelist Hadlow manages it with aplomb in a bravura passage describing a walking tour of the Lake District rife with seething complications furthered by odious Caroline Bingley. Her comeuppance at Mary’s hands marks the welcome final step in our heroine’s transformation from a self-doubting wallflower to a vibrant, self-assured woman who deserves her happy ending. Hadlow traces that progression with sensitivity, emotional clarity, and a quiet edge of social criticism Austen would have relished.
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-12941-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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