A slowly paced entry in a trilogy that deals with the aftermath of abuse.
The second volume of Edward’s (The Constant Child, 2012) trilogy follows Joy Chambers, nee Martina Cambridge, who has moved to Berger, Mo., after fleeing her abusive husband.
Martina has settled into a new life in a small town, and although the horrors of her life in Texas have not left her, she nevertheless manages to lead a fulfilled life. She owns a successful business and is in a committed relationship with her childhood sweetheart, Augie. At the outset of the novel, Martina’s husband, Ray, has managed to track her down and break into her house. She informs the police, and he is sent to prison. Martina suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and with the encouragement of her boyfriend and his sister Janelle, she seeks professional help to move past her previous traumas. Initially, Martina operates solely under the pseudonym of Joy Chambers, but after her husband goes to prison, she comes clean about her past and her true identity to her friends and neighbors in Berger, which is a step forward on her path of recovery. The novel tracks the aftermath of the abusive relationship and the steps Martina takes to heal psychologically. The plot is somewhat sluggish since it closely follows the undramatic, steady progress of emotional healing. Despite the serious nature of the subject matter, the tone tends toward the dry and overly expository: “He may have intended to tie me up and cut on me as he got high; maybe killing me afterwards,” Martina says. “Instead of that happening, however, I was able to give him a mild concussion, break his nose, loosen four of his front teeth, and ensure that he was finally put into police custody after years of evading capture.” In addition, sudden narrative shifts can be confusing, particularly when Martina’s first-person perspective switches to a more distanced third-person narration.
A slowly paced entry in a trilogy that deals with the aftermath of abuse.Pub Date: July 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-1484814369
Page Count: 314
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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