Deeply moving and personal, told with restraint and great skill.
A finely crafted story of a young priest’s crisis of faith (and love) is the latest success from novelist (and ex-priest) L’Heureux (Having Everything, 1999, etc.).
Anybody who was ordained in the 1960s faced pretty stiff casualty rates from the start, and Father LeBlanc—idealistic, intellectual, liberal, and more than a tad naive—is the sort who is bound to find Church life hard going at the best of times. Assigned as the curate to a large working-class parish in South Boston, he alienates his superiors (and not a few of his parishioners) by preaching and counseling against the Vietnam War, segregated schools, and the pope’s condemnation of birth control. Reassigned to a small parish in an out-of-the-way resort town in New Hampshire, he is forced to cultivate the virtue of solitude as well as humility. His pastor, Father Moriarity, is an invalid dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease, lovingly tended by Rose, the parish housekeeper. Rose’s teenaged daughter Mandy is somewhat wild in the manner of teenaged girls, and one day she overdoses on cocaine. Pronounced dead by the doctor, she regains consciousness after Rose prays over her. A miracle? Just good fortune? Father LeBlanc (who was present at the scene) is in no doubt whatever and becomes more and more obsessed with Rose, whom he believes to be a saint. Around the same time, Annaka (a somewhat disturbed woman from the parish) develops an obsession of her own—with Father LeBlanc. Eventually, Father LeBlanc gets himself into trouble with both Rose and Annaka, and the miracle turns out to be much more problematic than it first appeared. Father LeBlanc has to decide whether he should remain a priest—and what he wants to do if he leaves—and, more importantly, whether he still believes in God.
Deeply moving and personal, told with restraint and great skill.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-87113-857-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing and captivating novel that bridges the uncomfortable political gap between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.
In his first novel, Mandelman (Talking to the Enemy: stories, 2005) writes of identity, intrigue, Israeli politics and murder.
On learning of the murder of his father, David Starkman, an ex-pat now living in Canada, returns to Israel to find that his father’s will has put him under an unusual obligation—to produce a play, The Debba, within 45 days of his father’s death, a play that had been performed only once before, in 1946, and had at that time created a riot. (A debba is a mythical shape-changing beast from Arab culture, one that can turn from a hyena into a man. While Arabs see it in heroic terms, Israelis see it as inflaming political tensions.) Starkman is so bitter about being both Israeli and being his father’s son that at first he willingly forgoes the opportunity to produce the play even though he will only realize his modest legacy of $65,000 if he meets the theatrical obligation. He believes it’s just not worth the trouble, but after reading the play he begins to get intrigued by the possibilities. In Canada he left behind his girlfriend, Jenny, but once back in his home country he begins a torrid affair with Ruthy, an old flame (also an actress) now engaged to be married to his best friend Ehud. The novel follows multiple narrative threads, from policemen trying to crack the case of the father’s violent end to the endless difficulties of getting the play on the boards. Actors are threatened or physically assaulted, possible venues for staging the play are vandalized, young Israelis—followers of radical rabbi Meyer Kahane—protest the whole idea of putting on the drama…and this action plays out against the backdrop of the 1977 Israeli elections. Through it all Starkman perseveres, moving from cynical indifference to rabid commitment. Along the way he finds out secrets about his identity and especially about his father’s past.
An absorbing and captivating novel that bridges the uncomfortable political gap between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.Pub Date: July 13, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59051-370-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Other Press
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
A second tragedy-laden southern coming-of-age tale from Reynolds (Bitterroot Landing, 1995)—this one, set in a strict and punitive religious community, with a good, gothic allure despite its lamentably plodding prose. Ninah Huff is 14 when she really begins to chafe at the confines of her small world. Her grandpa Herman, founder of the Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty Baptizing Wind, keeps harsh control over their small South Carolina community, which is populated mostly by Ninah's extended family. Those who stray from the righteous path know to expect treatment that can range from whippings with a leather strap to sleeping overnight in a newly dug grave. And Grandpa Herman is always ready with Scripture to justify any of these punishments. Ninah, meanwhile, finds herself dreaming more and more about forbidden things, especially her strong physical attraction to James, one of the few boys around who's not her blood kin. When she winds up pregnant, it sparks tragedy within her family and shock waves throughout the community. But Ninah insists that she's not guilty of the sin of fornication, that what she and James did together was a form of pure prayer. And, sure enough, when baby Canaan is born, he appears to bear a sign from God—his hands are joined at the palms like someone perpetually praying. Grandpa Herman proclaims him the New Messiah, and he's taken away from Ninah to be raised by others. This time out, Reynolds burdens her story with some unworkable metaphors—a rug that grins?—and much awkward dialogue, but, in all, she creates a strongly compelling tension between family feeling and religious fervor. The fate of Ninah and her son is uncertain until the small epiphany (or, really, anti-epiphany) at book's end—a moment that seems just right. Fire and brimstone that goes tepid at times but is really chilling overall. (Literary Guild alternate selection; author tour)
Pub Date: Jan. 3, 1996
ISBN: 0-399-14112-X
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1995
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
