Along the "Butterfly" theme is this story of the incorruptible young officer, Major Lloyd Gruver, West Point '44 and Korean war ace, whose smug belief that he will follow the career laid out by his Father is taken to pieces and put together again by , number one girl of a Takarazuka troup, who gives him the love and tenderness that makes him a whole man. General Webster's high rank brings Lloyd to Kobe to marry his daughter, Eileen, as well as to rest. And the little cracks come when Lloyd is best man for Joe Kelly's marriage to Katsumi in the face of strict penalties, when Mrs. Webster forces the general to harsher and harsher non-fraternization orders, when Eileen recognizes Lloyd's dedication to the military life, so that Hana-ogi's beauty, inaccessibility, and bare politeness spur him to pursuit. Her capitulation, her enormous devotion and the emollient quality of Japanese domestic life and love give enchanted evenings and an enhanced understanding of her land and people. Joe and his Katsumi suicide when Joe is recalled and Katsumi is to be left behind; and Hana-ogi walks out, also under orders, from the theater, when communist-inspired rioting against Americans adds to their troubles. Lloyd is left with Eileen, proud and very aware of Lloyd's new-found courage, and his father's respect. A lashing out at officialdom and its adamant and antagonizing regulations; a romance of a "small house of great love"; the allure and seduction of Japan and its women — this for a far more feminine (but maybe it too could be antagonized?) audience than The Bridges of Toko-Ri, which might be more practical in its understanding and tolerance.
Pub Date: Jan. 25, 1953
ISBN: 0449204146
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1953
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
BOOK TO SCREEN
To her usual mix of love, mystery, and passion, Roberts (Sanctuary, 1997, etc.)—author of 115 romancers in some 17 years—adds Renaissance art and a decidedly Medici-like family: the Joneses of Maine. Dr. Miranda Jones, nearly six feet with flaming red hair and a glacial reserve, is an archeometrist who specializes in the analyzing and dating of Renaissance bronze sculpture. Miranda hopes to secure a world-class reputation for herself by authenticating a 15th-century statue of the Dark Lady, one of the mistresses of Lorenzo the Magnificent, as the undiscovered work of a young Michelangelo. Miranda's mother, Dr. Elizabeth Standford-Jones, the emotionally remote director of the Standjo art lab in Florence, has summoned her daughter from the family's Victorian cliffside home in Jones Point, Maine, to test the statue. Meanwhile, Miranda's father, equally remote, is an archaeologist who spends more time at his digs than at home. In fact, no one in the Jones family has made a successful run at marriage, a failure that Miranda and her alcoholic brother Andrew call the Jones curse. As for the statue, when it's discovered to be a fake, Miranda sets out to prove that someone stole the original. In this she's helped by gorgeous art thief Ryan Boldari (half-Italian, half-Irish), who's come to Jones Point to steal yet another bronze, which also turns out to be a forgery. Ryan's plan had been to use Miranda as a pawn, but now, naturally, he finds himself falling hard for her. While the two search for bronzes, a standard-issue romance-novel psychotic is stalking them. Most readers will twig to the killer's identity: Here, as always, Roberts's sexual tension is more compelling than her suspense. Perhaps it's time to take a sabbatical from the pink sweatshop and turn her considerable wit and narrative skills to a more original piece of work.
Pub Date: March 23, 1998
ISBN: 0-399-14387-4
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1998
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