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RIVER OF THE STICK WAVERS

Name: RIVER OF THE STICK WAVERS
Author: Gillian Andrews
ISBN: 978-1-4602-8935-8

by Gillian Andrews ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 29, 2016

One woman’s valuable and heartfelt journey to the next phase of her life.

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A grieving widow, lost and alone, escapes to a wild terrain in this debut novel.

Sorrow can be a funny thing—just when people think that they have it in check, it sneaks up on them when they least expect it. Such is the case with Grace Irwin. After the unexpected death of her husband, Grace finds herself unmoored. She’s unsure where she belongs, and now that she doesn’t have a spouse or children (they are all grown up) to take care of, she doesn’t know who she is. In search of clarity, Grace heads to northern Ontario’s French River, and each passing day helps her cope. Eventually, she realizes that though she was happy, the life she led with her husband wasn’t the one she set out to have. Through letters and testimonies, she confesses this to him. What could Grace have been if she hadn’t gone along with the societal and patriarchal expectations that she would get married, be a wife and mother, and do nothing else? She can only answer this question as she pushes aside her past, and in doing so, she (and her new friends) finds a quiet strength and plenty of possibilities. Andrews’ work mirrors the stages of grief—in the beginning, the story feels heavy with uncertainty and doubt, but as Grace becomes surer of herself, the tale sheds her regrets. The book’s vibe reflects her healing. Countless novels trace a woman’s exploration, but here that subject rises above a cliché. Grace’s feelings are raw and she’s far from perfect, which makes her odyssey more engaging. Another piece of the narrative frame, Grace’s letters, remains engrossing because she failed to speak these words to her husband because of his pride and her fear. A host of readers should relate to this situation, but the fact that Grace writes her misgivings down as a means of catharsis becomes especially poignant. While she may not have flourished in the way she had hoped, she gets the last word. The author peppers nuggets of wisdom throughout the book, such as “There are no measurements for what’s hard, you know. Hard is hard.” These gems are worth highlighting. Like Grace, many readers are lost in a labyrinth, and it’s with honesty and a few trusted friends that they can move into the future.

One woman’s valuable and heartfelt journey to the next phase of her life.

Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4602-8935-8

Page Count: -

Publisher: FriesenPress

Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2016

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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MAGIC HOUR

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

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Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.

Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Pub Date: March 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-345-46752-3

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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by Kristin Hannah

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by Kristin Hannah

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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

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A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.

"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.