by Judith Tarr ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1996
Another of Tarr's historicals set in ancient Egypt (Pillar of Fire, 1995, etc.). Queen Hatshepsut, daughter of Thutmose I, is the Great Royal Wife of Thutmose II, her brother. A mere girl when she became Queen, Hatshepsut only reluctantly admits the petulant Thutmose to her bed, developing meanwhile a friendship with the haughty young scribe Senenmut. And when Hatshepsut finally gives birth to a daughter, Neferure, she's barren thereafter, and Thutmose must sire his heir, the future Thutmose III, upon the concubine Isis. And when Thutmose II dies of fever, his son is too young to take the throne, so Hatshepsut becomes Regent. Senenmut, now the Queen's lover and confidante, remains wary of her protector, the giant Nubian, Nehsi. Neferure grows swiftly into a headstrong young woman and, after a foolish affair with Senenmut's brother, becomes pregnant, only to die in childbirth. With Thutmose slow to mature, Hatshepsut, prompted by the god Amon, declares herself King, and proves popular with commoners and nobles alike. Thutmose, still in awe of her, nevertheless grows frustrated and embittered. King Hatshepsut commissions spectacular monuments, and sends Nehsi on an important trade mission to the land of Punt. Finally, after Senenmut's death, Isis poisons Hatshepsut. But Thutmose must wait 20 years, until Nehsi finally dies, before attempting to uproot Hatshepsut's memory by defacing her monuments and despoiling Senenmut's tomb. An uncompelling yarn whose lifeless characters and lackluster backdrop fail to capture the spirit of singularity of the historical period: the least successful of an at best mediocre series.
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-312-86092-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Forge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1996
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by Judith Tarr
BOOK REVIEW
by Judith Tarr
BOOK REVIEW
by Judith Tarr
by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
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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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
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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