LUSCIOUS LEMON

Name: LUSCIOUS LEMON
Author: Heather Swain
ISBN: 0-7434-6488-5

by Heather Swain ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2004

A second coming-of-ager from Swain (Eliot’s Banana , 2003) but, for obvious reasons, this heartfelt tale isn’t exactly...

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Can a young Manhattan chef find happiness?

Ellie Manelli, known as Lemon, pretty much has it all. After several years, boyfriend Eddie still adores her. Bonus: he still likes to indulge in hot rooftop sex and cold champagne. Her new East Village restaurant, also named Lemon, is doing well, and she loves her work, reveling in the hectic pace of a professional kitchen and the long hours she puts in, ably assisted by an ethnically diverse staff. Wonder of wonders, though, she suddenly became the new It Girl of New York restaurants and still hasn’t quite recovered. Her Italian-American relatives thought cooking would be just a phase—they expected her to marry some hairy goomba from Brooklyn and have 27 kids. But no. Eddie is as preppy as they come, the Princeton-educated son of a textile magnate from Georgia. He has popped the question, though—several times. Unsure of herself, despite her successes, Lemon hasn’t said yes. Perhaps being orphaned at an early age has made her wary: her parents, described as beatniks (even though she’s far too young for that to be true), dumped her on willing relatives, ran off together, and were killed in an accident. So, okay, Lemon has commitment issues but nothing too serious. Uh, remember that careless rooftop sex? Lemon is pregnant. And suddenly nauseous. And sleepy. And feeling miserable and happy at the same time. At least Eddie is thrilled. But will his straitlaced family be? As soon as the Italian aunts know, they won’t leave Lemon alone for a minute. Should she marry Eddie? Does he still want to marry her? All this fretting is interspersed with inner monologues on the subject of pregnancy, addressed to the fetus (she’s sure it’s a girl). Unfortunately, Lemon suffers a miscarriage, described in bloody detail, that sends her into an emotional tailspin.

A second coming-of-ager from Swain (Eliot’s Banana , 2003) but, for obvious reasons, this heartfelt tale isn’t exactly entertaining.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-7434-6488-5

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Downtown Press/Pocket

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2004

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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SUMMER ISLAND

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001

The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...

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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

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.