An adroit depiction of an adventurous life.
In this historical novel, Tate envisions the many triumphs and passions of Richard the Lionheart.
The author frames her story as six volumes of the polarizing king’s journal, concluding with his last letter to his queen, Berengaria. Richard narrates throughout, beginning with his early status as Duke of Aquitaine, the tensions between his father, Henry II, and Thomas Becket, the adviser whom Henry would infamously murder, and his own lengthy rebellion against his father. In early adulthood, Richard asserts his authority by engaging in jousting tournaments, exacting vengeance on rapists and mercenaries, and mounting his first military campaign against Henry in Paris, with King Louis VII of France. Although Richard eventually acknowledges the supremacy of his father’s rule, he also does what Henry could not, capturing the “unassailable” fortress at Taillebourg in France. Tate’s book is as much a romance as a thriller, particularly when Richard speaks of Berengaria; when they first meet, he reflects, “I am not sure how long we stood there, staring at each other.” His dedication to her is constant, and when she becomes pregnant with their child, the knowledge buoys Richard through later military campaigns. Over the course of the novel, Richard captures the French commune of Gorre, defeats Isaac Comnenus of Cyprus, and forges a memorable truce with the sultan Saladin, ultimately emerging victorious in the Third Crusade. In the gritty conclusion, Richard meets his prolonged death at the hands of a mocking archer when gangrene from a crossbow-bolt wound spreads; he recounts in the final entry that he knows his death approaches and that “we cannot amputate my back.” A postscript describes the later lives of several main characters, adding depth to an already rich narrative. In thoroughly detailed prose, Tate pays careful attention to Richard’s personality and perspective, dwelling on both his thunderous moods and softer emotional connections. Overall, he crafts the king as a sympathetic character whom readers will root for—a classic figure with a somewhat modernist twist.
An adroit depiction of an adventurous life.Pub Date: May 13, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 417
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A stunning feat of storytelling and moral clarity.
An Irishman uncovers abuse at a Magdalen laundry in this compact and gripping novel.
As Christmas approaches in the winter of 1985, Bill Furlong finds himself increasingly troubled by a sense of dissatisfaction. A coal and timber merchant living in New Ross, Ireland, he should be happy with his life: He is happily married and the father of five bright daughters, and he runs a successful business. But the scars of his childhood linger: His mother gave birth to him while still a teenager, and he never knew his father. Now, as he approaches middle age, Furlong wonders, “What was it all for?…Might things never change or develop into something else, or new?” But a series of troubling encounters at the local convent, which also functions as a “training school for girls” and laundry business, disrupts Furlong’s sedate life. Readers familiar with the history of Ireland’s Magdalen laundries, institutions in which women were incarcerated and often died, will immediately recognize the circumstances of the desperate women trapped in New Ross’ convent, but Furlong does not immediately understand what he has witnessed. Keegan, a prizewinning Irish short story writer, says a great deal in very few words to extraordinary effect in this short novel. Despite the brevity of the text, Furlong’s emotional state is fully rendered and deeply affecting. Keegan also carefully crafts a web of complicity around the convent’s activities that is believably mundane and all the more chilling for it. The Magdalen laundries, this novel implicitly argues, survived not only due to the cruelty of the people who ran them, but also because of the fear and selfishness of those who were willing to look aside because complicity was easier than resistance.
A stunning feat of storytelling and moral clarity.Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8021-5874-1
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Grove
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
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