An accomplished first novel that effectively blends folklore with the evening news.
A novel about one old man’s fight against the machinations of city hall.
When this winsome, winning story begins, Thomas Culhaven, crotchety but likable senior citizen and narrator, is sprucing himself up in preparation for a confrontation with the town council. His family helped found the little Illinois town of Culhaven, but the place has prospered sufficiently for the council—led by the corpulent Mayor Cramden—to get ambitious. A big part of that ambition is building a new highway to connect Culhaven with its nearest neighbor, and the problem with that plan is the proposed highway would run right over Thomas Culhaven’s 1860s home. Culhaven has been lonely in the years since his beloved wife’s death—although he’s enjoyed the company of his dog Bud, who nobody else can see or hear—and the town’s attempt to use the machinery of eminent domain to oust him from his home is the last straw. He and Bud concoct a plan that’s more beer than brainstorming, and at the council meeting Culhaven invites the hated mayor to study the documents spread out on the table before him. When the man bends down to do that, Culhaven whips out of pair of scissors and snips off a chunk of the mayor’s big, outlandish mustache. It’s an absurd little gesture worthy of Booth Tarkington or Sinclair Lewis, and the narrative follows its fallout in laconic but eminently readable detail. Culhaven is taken off to the town jail, freed on $20 bail and becomes something of a celebrity, his mustache-snipping seen as a daffy kind of symbolism. There’s quite a bit of dry humor throughout (Culhaven would be a choice comic role for Robert Duvall), despite the serious issues—the damages of corporate greed, the quiet desperation of old age—at work under the surface.
An accomplished first novel that effectively blends folklore with the evening news.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The emotions run high, the conversations run deep, and the relationships ebb and flow with grace.
When tragedy strikes, a mother and daughter forge a new life.
Morgan felt obligated to marry her high school sweetheart, Chris, when she got pregnant with their daughter, Clara. But she secretly got along much better with Chris’ thoughtful best friend, Jonah, who was dating her sister, Jenny. Now her life as a stay-at-home parent has left her feeling empty but not ungrateful for what she has. Jonah and Jenny eventually broke up, but years later they had a one-night stand and Jenny got pregnant with their son, Elijah. Now Jonah is back in town, engaged to Jenny, and working at the local high school as Clara’s teacher. Clara dreams of being an actress and has a crush on Miller, who plans to go to film school, but her father doesn't approve. It doesn’t help that Miller already has a jealous girlfriend who stalks him via text from college. But Clara and Morgan’s home life changes radically when Chris and Jenny are killed in an accident, revealing long-buried secrets and forcing Morgan to reevaluate the life she chose when early motherhood forced her hand. Feeling betrayed by the adults in her life, Clara marches forward, acting both responsible and rebellious as she navigates her teenage years without her father and her aunt, while Jonah and Morgan's relationship evolves in the wake of the accident. Front-loaded with drama, the story leaves plenty of room for the mother and daughter to unpack their feelings and decide what’s next.
The emotions run high, the conversations run deep, and the relationships ebb and flow with grace.Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5420-1642-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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