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THAT'S THAT

Name: THAT'S THAT
Author: Gaye Walsh
ISBN: 978-1452077772

by Gaye Walsh ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 20, 2010

A breezy read from a capable talent.

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Generations of an Irish family cope with decades of personal and political turmoil in Walsh’s endearing debut novel.

In the midst of a devastating potato blight in the 1840s, the roots of the Callaghan family take hold when John is born in an impoverished Irish town. He is soon orphaned and a childless couple takes pity on the boy, granting him the opportunity—i.e., food—to grow up, take over the adopted-family business and get married. And so John does, as do his children and his children’s children. Only halfway through the novel does Walsh finally slow the rapid, increasingly tedious rhythm of small-town lovers courting and requiting, and shift to a more patient and revealing narrative centered on the Frowney family and their farm. Louise Callaghan, granddaughter of John, is the Frowney’s saintly matriarch and Charlie Frowney, detached alcoholic, is its stern patriarch. The couple’s nuanced relationship, from its spirited beginning to its disenchanted conclusion, emanates a spark lit by a passion that eludes the many other relationships in the novel. Some potentially engaging arcs are weakened by clichés—marriage is described as a “tug-of-war,” an annoyance is “a thorn in her side”—and baffling similes, as when “tears flowed like molten lava.” Yet Walsh, a poet, has a keen eye for detail, most admirably in poignant moments a less insightful author might deem unremarkable, as when Louise overhears Charlie and their young son quietly singing together in the barn at sunrise. At low volume throughout, Walsh politely, perfunctorily mentions Ireland’s political revolution as if those violent contentions were only an expression of whiskey preference. For spanning two centuries, the novel’s breadth does not translate into depth, but when focused, Walsh can delight.

A breezy read from a capable talent.

Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2010

ISBN: 978-1452077772

Page Count: 300

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2011

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

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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

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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DISTANT SHORES

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2002

Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her...

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Another middle-aged mom in a muddle.

After years of false starts and big hopes, Elizabeth’s ruggedly handsome husband Jack, a former football star, just landed a spot as a sportscaster on national news. He still loves her, even though much younger women are giving him come-hither looks. Heck, he doesn’t want to betray the love of his life after she helped him kick drugs and stuck by him even when he was a struggling has-been. And won’t it seem hypocritical if he fools around with his sexy assistant while he does in-depth reporting on a rape case involving a famous basketball center? Well, he fools around anyway. Elizabeth, nicknamed Birdie, knows nothing of this, but she withdraws from Jack when her hard-drinking, salt-of-the-earth father has a stroke and dies. Now no one will call her “sugar beet” ever again. Time to return home to Tennessee and contend with Anita, the sort-of-evil stepmother so trashy she wears pink puffy slippers all day long. Naturally, it turns out that Anita actually has a heart of gold and knows a few things about Birdie’s dead mother that were hushed up for years. Mom was an artist, just like Birdie, and an old scandal comes to light as Anita unrolls a vibrant canvas that portrays her secret lover. Perhaps, Birdie muses, her mother died of heartbreak, never having followed her true love or developed her talent. Has she, too, compromised everything she holds dear? Hoping to find out, Birdie joins a support group that promises to reconnect confused women with their passion. She and Jack separate, prompting a how-dare-you fit from their grown daughters. Will Birdie fly her empty nest? Will she go back to college for a degree in art? Will her brooding watercolors ever sell?

Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her previous tales (Summer Island, 2001, etc.).