THE MODERN AMERICAN WOMAN

Name: THE MODERN AMERICAN WOMAN
Author: James Wellington
ISBN: 978-1492147152

by James Wellington ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2014

A thoughtful, philosophical skimming of American culture, but one that misses an opportunity to turn its observations into...

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A contemplative novel in which a foreign student seeks an education in both women and American culture.

Two young roommates, Charles and Henry, are watching a TV program graphically depicting the execution of one of Henry VIII’s wives. It spurs a late-night philosophical conversation about men’s dominance over women, leading Henry to declare that “the American woman is quite exceptional and unique.” Charles, a foreigner originally from Africa and studying in Austin, Texas, fixates on the idea. Their subsequent dialogue about this certain allure of American women continues ad nauseam as they lazily consume tacos, pizza and TV. “Freedom makes her appreciate the fact that beauty is significantly essential to her inner calmness, confidence, and the environment,” Henry muses. Eventually, as they bring up these ideas with other friends and professors, fascinating observations arise about American culture compared to the rest of the world. Yet much of it feels far removed from the reality of an American woman’s life. Their dialogues remain completely respectful—there are no crass vulgarities that might be expected from college-age males, only vague allusions to “midnight trysts.” But the conversations are also formal and academic to the point of feeling stiff, as if the initial brainstorming for a feminist-studies paper has been superimposed over these young men. The story picks up the most momentum when actual American women are present, but this comes a bit too little, too late. As Henry’s friend Lisa points out: “I think for Charles to appreciate the mindset of an American woman, he needs to date one. Talking about her just won’t cut it. All talk and no action.” Along those lines, a stronger female counterpoint to Charles’ probing, right from the beginning, would have given the narrative some much-needed dramatic tension and balance. Unfortunately, for all the interesting ideas that Charles and Henry come up with relating to freedom and gender, their “modern American woman” is still trapped in the perspectives of men.

A thoughtful, philosophical skimming of American culture, but one that misses an opportunity to turn its observations into an engaging narrative.

Pub Date: June 9, 2014

ISBN: 978-1492147152

Page Count: 252

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2015

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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THE RUMOR

by Elin Hilderbrand ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2015

Once again, Hilderbrand displays her gift for making us care most about her least likable characters.

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Hilderbrand’s latest cautionary tale exposes the toxic—and hilarious—impact of gossip on even the most sophisticated of islands.

Eddie and Grace Pancik are known for their beautiful Nantucket home and grounds, financed with the profits from Eddie’s thriving real estate company (thriving before the crash of 2008, that is). Grace raises pedigreed hens and, with the help of hunky landscape architect Benton Coe, has achieved a lush paradise of fowl-friendly foliage. The Panciks’ teenage girls, Allegra and Hope, suffer invidious comparisons of their looks and sex appeal, although they're identical twins. The Panciks’ friends the Llewellyns (Madeline, a blocked novelist, and her airline-pilot husband, Trevor) invested $50,000, the lion’s share of Madeline’s last advance, in Eddie’s latest development. But Madeline, hard-pressed to come up with catalog copy, much less a new novel, is living in increasingly straightened circumstances, at least by Nantucket standards: she can only afford $2,000 per month on the apartment she rents in desperate hope that “a room of her own” will prime the creative pump. Construction on Eddie’s spec houses has stalled, thanks to the aforementioned crash. Grace, who has been nursing a crush on Benton for some time, gives in and a torrid affair ensues, which she ill-advisedly confides to Madeline after too many glasses of Screaming Eagle. With her agent and publisher dropping dire hints about clawing back her advance and Eddie “temporarily” unable to return the 50K, what’s a writer to do but to appropriate Grace’s adultery as fictional fodder? When Eddie is seen entering her apartment (to ask why she rented from a rival realtor), rumors spread about him and Madeline, and after the rival realtor sneaks a look at Madeline’s rough draft (which New York is hotly anticipating as “the Playboy Channel meets HGTV”), the island threatens to implode with prurient snark. No one is spared, not even Hilderbrand herself, “that other Nantucket novelist,” nor this magazine, “the notoriously cranky Kirkus.”

Once again, Hilderbrand displays her gift for making us care most about her least likable characters.

Pub Date: June 16, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-316-33452-5

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: May 20, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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HEART-SHAPED BOX

by Joe Hill ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 13, 2007

Much will be made of the kinship of Hill and his superstar father, Stephen King, but Hill can stand on his own two feet....

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A rock star buys a ghost who chases him from New York to Florida, blood spurting all the way.

Jude Coyne, after a career in the darker reaches of the rock-music world, lives in upstate New York with Georgia, the latest in a succession of young pierced admirers he calls by the states of their birth. Georgia’s predecessor, Florida, is at the heart of the troubles that arrive when Coyne answers an ad offering a ghost, something special to add to his collection of creepy items that includes a Mexican snuff film. The ghost inhabits a garish suit of clothes that arrives in a heart-shaped box, and the situation is a set-up. Knowing Coyne’s taste for the weird, Florida’s sister has inveigled him into buying the soul of her and Florida’s stupendously evil stepfather, Craddock, a stinker who learned a lot of very bad magic as a soldier in Vietnam. The motive is the apparent suicide of Florida, who Coyne sent home after one too many bouts of depression. Craddock’s ghost immediately gets into Coyne’s head, urging him to murder Georgia and then commit suicide. Coyne resists, but the bad vibes are too much for his gay personal assistant, who flees the farm and hangs himself. Craddock persists in his attack on Coyne, using a ghostly truck as his assault vehicle. Lesser rock stars would have capitulated early on, but Georgia turns out to be full of spunk, and Coyne’s German Shepherds are fierce protectors who the ghost greatly fears. To get rid of Craddock, Coyne figures he will have to go to Florida to find out just what did happen to make that ghost such an abusive spirit.

Much will be made of the kinship of Hill and his superstar father, Stephen King, but Hill can stand on his own two feet. He’s got horror down pat, and his debut is hair-raising fun.