A sometimes provoking meditation on the elusiveness of genius and desire that’s also, all too often, no more illuminating...
A retelling of the love story between Robert and Clara Schumann that owes less to The Barretts of Wimpole Street than to Raging Bull.
At curtain’s rise, the dying composer, committed to a mental asylum after throwing himself into the Rhine, is looking back over the ruins of his life. A survey of the facts reveals a familiar story—Romantic artist with no financial prospects woos and wins prodigiously talented bride away from autocratic father before going on to his own well-remembered success—which Landis (Lying in Bed, 1995) updates by brushing off the powdered sugar. Schumann often did behave as dissolutely as the outraged Friedrich Wieck claimed. He scattered his love broadcast, even after he’d met the nine-year-old Clara and become her father’s live-in piano pupil. And, mainly because his wife, not he, enjoyed a career as a virtuoso, he never won the public acclaim accorded his contemporaries Paganini, Chopin, Mendelssohn, or Liszt (all of whom make important appearances here) or his protégé Brahms (the obligatory third party, hopelessly but platonically in love with Clara, in any fictional treatment of the couple). Although Landis paints a harrowing picture of Schumann’s final disintegration, however, his determination to paint his musical world in such detail prevents him from ever focusing on the composer at work, or, more damagingly, from creating a convincing romance between him and Clara: He marches dutifully through each new stage of their intoxicatingly progressive intimacy without ever earning the changes he chronicles. And Landis’s incessant factual footnotes on everything from the Sacher Torte to the Third Reich, presumably intended as postmodern thumbs in the eye of Romantic biography, come across as pedestrian and sappy.
A sometimes provoking meditation on the elusiveness of genius and desire that’s also, all too often, no more illuminating than a late-night rerun of Song of Love minus Paul Henreid, Katharine Hepburn, and Robert Walker. (Author tour)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-100453-6
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hoover is one of the freshest voices in new-adult fiction, and her latest resonates with true emotion, unforgettable...
Sydney and Ridge make beautiful music together in a love triangle written by Hoover (Losing Hope, 2013, etc.), with a link to a digital soundtrack by American Idol contestant Griffin Peterson.
Hoover is a master at writing scenes from dual perspectives. While music student Sydney is watching her neighbor Ridge play guitar on his balcony across the courtyard, Ridge is watching Sydney’s boyfriend, Hunter, secretly make out with her best friend on her balcony. The two begin a songwriting partnership that grows into something more once Sydney dumps Hunter and decides to crash with Ridge and his two roommates while she gets back on her feet. She finds out after the fact that Ridge already has a long-distance girlfriend, Maggie—and that he's deaf. Ridge’s deafness doesn’t impede their relationship or their music. In fact, it creates opportunities for sexy nonverbal communication and witty text messages: Ridge tenderly washes off a message he wrote on Sydney’s hand in ink, and when Sydney adds a few too many e’s to the word “squee” in her text, Ridge replies, “If those letters really make up a sound, I am so, so glad I can’t hear it.” While they fight their mutual attraction, their hope that “maybe someday” they can be together playfully comes out in their music. Peterson’s eight original songs flesh out Sydney’s lyrics with a good mix of moody musical styles: “Living a Lie” has the drama of a Coldplay piano ballad, while the chorus of “Maybe Someday” marches to the rhythm of the Lumineers. But Ridge’s lingering feelings for Maggie cause heartache for all three of them. Independent Maggie never complains about Ridge’s friendship with Sydney, and it's hard to even want Ridge to leave Maggie when she reveals her devastating secret. But Ridge can’t hide his feelings for Sydney long—and they face their dilemma with refreshing emotional honesty.
Hoover is one of the freshest voices in new-adult fiction, and her latest resonates with true emotion, unforgettable characters and just the right amount of sexual tension.Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4767-5316-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 6, 2014
Roberts’ newest is part thriller, part romance, part survivors’ psychological study with a touch of New Age magic—and a...
The victims of a mass shooting—including two young heroes from the tragedy—are moving forward in their lives, affected in different ways, when they're stunned to discover a serial killer is targeting survivors.
Simone Knox and Reed Quartermaine were both survivors of a mass shooting at a mall in Portland, Maine. Afterward, Simone, grateful to be alive, vows to be a better daughter and at first tries to conform to her parents’ conservative expectations. However, she soon realizes she’ll never be happy appeasing them and finally chooses to follow her artistic dreams in order to lead a more authentic life. Reed, inspired by Essie McVee, the first police officer on the scene, becomes a detective, eventually becoming Essie's partner and close friend. Years later, survivors of the massacre begin to die, and Reed is convinced the deaths are connected—but not even Essie takes him seriously until the killer targets him. Reed is wounded but survives, and suddenly everyone believes him. The cunning psychopath escapes into the ether, armed with money, lots of false identification, and a seething desire for revenge. Taking time to heal, Reed visits Tranquility Island, Maine, his childhood vacation spot, and falls in love with the place. He also meets a charismatic older woman who helps him land the house of his dreams and the position of police chief. Falling in love with her granddaughter, Simone—whom he had been aware of since the tragedy but had never met—seems like fate. Reed settles into his new job and hooks up with the FBI regarding the case, convinced their face-off has frustrated the vengeful killer. As heroic survivors, Reed and Simone are prime targets, and now that they’ve found each other, the stakes are higher than ever. Facing the hunter means fighting for their lives, love, and happiness while silencing the violent echoes of the worst day of their lives. Fascinating characters—Simone's grandmother is a standout—and a sprawling plot that covers a lot of ground yet keeps the reader engaged offer a surprisingly compelling and poignant redemption story that begins with a tragic mass shooting.
Roberts’ newest is part thriller, part romance, part survivors’ psychological study with a touch of New Age magic—and a lively, captivating read.Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-16159-8
Page Count: 448
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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