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THE WITCHING TIME

Four years after her poignant Family Games (1994, etc.), Stubbs returns with a subtly shaded, quietly insightful story of a young English widow who moves to the country for a fresh start, only to find herself in the middle of a pitched battle between the forces of light and darkness when she befriends a local group of witches. Imogen is still at sea after the loss of her beloved, Fred the toymaker, when she encounters old chum and protector Alice in London, and quickly accepts Alice’s offer to come north to stay with her and her minister husband. Something in the dales surrounding Alice’s town touches Imogen deeply, and one day when she hikes to nearby standing stones known as the Listening Women, she comes back with resolve to get on with her life. Being independently minded as well as gifted, she moves to the village beneath the stones and opens a made-to-order hat shop without consulting Alice, to find herself connecting with other craftswomen, all of whom happen to be witches. Drawn to the dark, magnetic Philip, who runs a home for juvenile offenders, but warned about him by the genial, wise old Dr. Rowley, local specialist in magic arts, Imogen tries to keep her distance—which proves hard once both she and Philip are leads in the Elizabethan drama the good doctor is staging to benefit the church. Meanwhile, Imogen has another fan in George, the play’s set builder, the church’s bell-ringer, and the illegitimate son of Mary, the grand old witch of the dales. When matters come to a head on the play’s opening night, Imogen has already made her choice, but face-to-face with evil she also finds a strength that will change her life forever. A bit of a slow burner, but the conflicts in a tender woman’s heart are neatly conveyed here, as is the sense of a close-knit community with more than its share of secrets to hide.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-312-19367-X

Page Count: 384

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1998

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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.

"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

Pub Date: June 15, 1951

ISBN: 0316769177

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951

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MAGIC HOUR

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.

Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Pub Date: March 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-345-46752-3

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005

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