The story of a family reunion, told with wit and compassion by an accomplished novelist (Kelly Park, 1992, etc.). The 1980s have been a difficult decade for the Malpas clan, and when Blanche Malpas is invited to a traditional family Christmas by her mother, she is skeptical. She wonders why Sybil, self-made matriarch and martyr, continues her efforts to reunite a hopelessly irreconcilable group of relatives. Despite her doubts, Blanche takes her baby son to Minions, the family home in Cornwall. Also there are Tony, her imperious professor father, for whom Blanche's son, who was born out of wedlock, is a source of contention; Teddy, her sweet but weak-willed brother, and his children; and flighty Lydia, Blanche's sister, with her ``friend'' Freddie. Things begin calmly, if with a minimum of goodwill, but the quiet (along with Sybil's heirloom soup tureen) is broken upon the arrival of three uninvited guests: Daniel, the father of Blanche's son; Katrina, Teddy's estranged wife; and Aunt Tasha, Tony's itinerant twin sister. Tensions run high, and Sybil is hard- pressed to keep everyone happy—herself included. She exchanges harsh words with Tasha; Katrina and Teddy come to blows over the custody of their children; Blanche and Tony resume their long-waged war of wills. Revelations range from the unexpected to the startling, the most shocking of them related to the mystery of Blanche's parentage. Finally, there are the reconciliations: Sybil with Tony, Blanche with Daniel, Teddy to his divorce, Lydia with herself. Blanche and her father, acknowledging the inevitable complexity of relationships, manage to overcome their differences- -or rather their similarities—and discover their deep and abiding love. A poignant love story on many levels, with characters and relationships that are both multidimensional and believable. Stubbs treats the tale of a family's resurrection with delicacy and insight. (First printing of 40,000)
Pub Date: June 27, 1994
ISBN: 0-312-10437-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
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
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