A strong, evocative sequel that follows an interracial couple coping with family and social complications in New York.
An interracial couple adjusts to married life in the 1950s in Garner’s (Walk on Water, 2013, etc.) multilayered sequel to her 2011 debut novel, Solomon’s Blues.
After falling in love in a small Texas town, Esther and Taylor Payne relocate to the bohemian New York City neighborhood of Greenwich Village, where their relationship is not only legally permitted, but also generally accepted. Deeply in love, they enjoy a life filled with material comforts (Taylor joins a law firm) and the support of Esther’s nearby extended family. But Esther can’t escape the reality that she remains a black woman living in a white world. She tries to adapt to her new role as a society wife, sporting the proper hairstyles and wearing the right clothes. Yet while she changes externally, her faith endures and her commitment to family stays strong. Although she and Taylor are well-matched, he continues to be estranged from his family, a situation Esther fails to accept. Her determination to reunite Taylor with his uncle and sister endangers her marriage. Garner presents a well-written, descriptive novel, choosing a setting that allows her to address many of the cultural changes of the postwar era. The appealing story of Esther and Taylor’s love offers a peek into larger political and social issues. For example, World War II still haunts Esther and her friends (“No one was willing to let himself or herself believe in peace. We just hoped for it, while we built bomb shelters and practiced air-raid drills”). Garner peppers the narrative with cogent tidbits about national events, deftly working them in between a whirl of social obligations, Esther’s recollections of home, and steamy moments of lovemaking. For example, a group of wives discusses the polio vaccine, and Taylor rejoices when the verdict of Brown v. Board of Education is returned. In addition, Esther’s circle of acquaintances richly represents the melting pot that is American society, ranging from Holocaust survivors to Russian Marxist landlords. At the heart of the novel lie Esther and Taylor, well-drawn characters who are admirable yet endearingly fallible.
A strong, evocative sequel that follows an interracial couple coping with family and social complications in New York.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4917-7303-1
Page Count: 326
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Dec. 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
Hoffman (The Red Garden, 2011, etc.) births literature from tragedy: the destruction of Jerusalem's Temple, the siege of Masada and the loss of Zion.
This is a feminist tale, a story of strong, intelligent women wedded to destiny by love and sacrifice. Told in four parts, the first comes from Yael, daughter of Yosef bar Elhanan, a Sicarii Zealot assassin, rejected by her father because of her mother's death in childbirth. It is 70 CE, and the Temple is destroyed. Yael, her father, and another Sicarii assassin, Jachim ben Simon, and his family flee Jerusalem. Hoffman's research renders the ancient world real as the group treks into Judea's desert, where they encounter Essenes, search for sustenance and burn under the sun. There too Jachim and Yael begin a tragic love affair. At Masada, Yael is sent to work in the dovecote, gathering eggs and fertilizer. She meets Shirah, her daughters, and Revka, who narrates part two. Revka's husband was killed when Romans sacked their village. Later, her daughter was murdered. At Masada, caring for grandsons turned mute by tragedy, Revka worries over her scholarly son-in-law, Yoav, now consumed by vengeance. Aziza, daughter of Shirah, carries the story onward. Born out of wedlock, Aziza grew up in Moab, among the people of the blue tunic. Her passion and curse is that she was raised as a warrior by her foster father. In part four, Shirah tells of her Alexandrian youth, the cherished daughter of a consort of the high priests. Shirah is a keshaphim, a woman of amulets, spells and medicine, and a woman connected to Shechinah, the feminine aspect of God. The women are irretrievably bound to Eleazar ben Ya'ir, Masada's charismatic leader; Amram, Yael's brother; and Yoav, Aziza's companion and protector in battle. The plot is intriguingly complex, with only a single element unresolved. An enthralling tale rendered with consummate literary skill.
Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4516-1747-4
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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