An inspired, if uneven, dissection of the nebulousness of life after the upheaval of war.
A debut collection of short stories examines characters who become unmoored by personal and historical circumstances.
Hiltner’s tales explore a cast of characters who are dispossessed in a variety of ways. The author grew up in Ohio but lived and worked for many years abroad, mainly in Germany and Hungary, and these locations come up often in his works. Many are set during the World War II era and afterward, following individual people and families divided by conflict; there are also detours to the American Midwest and, in one story, Africa. The works often employ detached first-person narrators who observe and report more than they actively participate in the stories’ events. Although geopolitics is a thematic element of many of these tales, they are not generally action-oriented, nor are they centered on specific battles or historical figures; rather, they follow everyday people who often recount personal tragedies as they try to pick up the pieces of their lives. In these stories, sons leave their parents (“The Missing Sheep of Coshocton County”) and husbands leave their wives (“Remember Me”); one tells of running a factory in a stable postwar economy (“The Open Window”) and another of a visit to the beach (“Crescent Beach”). At least three stories include a suicide, and very few of them convey any kind of optimism for the postwar future—or joy for the characters who are living through it. There are some outliers, though, such as “The Double Standard Bra,” which, in fewer than two pages, ponders double standards of sexuality.
The author’s clear research and sense of place supply the European stories with a sense of confidence and authenticity, and the thinly described narrators give many of them an eerie, cautionary quality. There are 22 stories here, and many are on the shorter side and use dialogue sparingly; as a result, some feel as though they might have benefited by more clearly expressing characters’ personalities and motives. Many seem to be on the cusp of poignancy, but abrupt ends or time skips undermine their significance. “Beneath the Balboa Tree of Guescheme” stands out as one of the most fully realized works. It follows Baptist missionaries in Africa who witness the genital mutilation of a group of young local girls, relaying their experiences in dialogue and diary entries. It does not, however, deeply examine the implications of missionaries visiting African countries, and it seems to exoticize Muslim African communities. Overall, Hiltner’s prose is utilitarian, and the strongest lines come from narrators’ internalization of their bleak circumstances and observations on how time shapes our perceptions of suffering: “Perhaps the passing of a generation would settle long ago questions….The important thing was so simple, like the sitting in an orchard, and the taste of a pilsner. Perhaps there was no freedom and there was no tether. Perhaps the one who is tied is free, and the one who is free is tethered.” An inspired, if uneven, dissection of the nebulousness of life after the upheaval of war.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2022
ISBN: 9798985215410
Page Count: 166
Publisher: Kniemst Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.
An artwork’s value grows if you understand the stories of the people who inspired it.
Never in her wildest dreams would foster kid Louisa dream of meeting C. Jat, the famous painter of The One of the Sea, which depicts a group of young teens on a pier on a hot summer’s day. But in Backman’s latest, that’s just what happens—an unexpected (but not unbelievable) set of circumstances causes their paths to collide right before the dying 39-year-old artist’s departure from the world. One of his final acts is to bequeath that painting to Louisa, who has endured a string of violent foster homes since her mother abandoned her as a child. Selling the painting will change her life—but can she do it? Before deciding, she accompanies Ted, one of the artist’s close friends and one of the young teens captured in that celebrated painting, on a train journey to take the artist’s ashes to his hometown. She wants to know all about the painting, which launched Jat’s career at age 14, and the circle of beloved friends who inspired it. The bestselling author of A Man Called Ove (2014) and other novels, Backman gives us a heartwarming story about how these friends, set adrift by the violence and unhappiness of their homes, found each other and created a new definition of family. “You think you’re alone,” one character explains, “but there are others like you, people who stand in front of white walls and blank paper and only see magical things. One day one of them will recognize you and call out: ‘You’re one of us!’” As Ted tells stories about his friends—how Jat doubted his talents but found a champion in fiery Joar, who took on every bully to defend him; how Ali brought an excitement to their circle that was “like a blinding light, like a heart attack”—Louisa recognizes herself as a kindred soul and feels a calling to realize her own artistic gifts. What she decides to do with the painting is part of a caper worthy of the stories that Ted tells her. The novel is humorous, poignant, and always life-affirming, even when describing the bleakness of the teens’ early lives. “Art is a fragile magic, just like love,” as someone tells Louisa, “and that’s humanity’s only defense against death.”
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781982112820
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
A vibrant tale of a remarkable woman.
Who was Shakespeare?
Move over, Earl of Oxford and Francis Bacon: There’s another contender for the true author of plays attributed to the bard of Stratford—Emilia Bassano, a clever, outspoken, educated woman who takes center stage in Picoult’s spirited novel. Of Italian heritage, from a family of court musicians, Emilia was a hidden Jew and the courtesan of a much older nobleman who vetted plays to be performed for Queen Elizabeth. She was well traveled—unlike Shakespeare, she visited Italy and Denmark, where, Picoult imagines, she may have met Rosencrantz and Guildenstern—and was familiar with court intrigue and English law. “Every gap in Shakespeare’s life or knowledge that has had to be explained away by scholars, she somehow fills,” Picoult writes. Encouraged by her lover, Emilia wrote plays and poetry, but 16th-century England was not ready for a female writer. Picoult interweaves Emilia’s story with that of her descendant Melina Green, an aspiring playwright, who encounters the same sexist barriers to making herself heard that Emilia faced. In alternating chapters, Picoult follows Melina’s frustrated efforts to get a play produced—a play about Emilia, who Melina is certain sold her work to Shakespeare. Melina’s play, By Any Other Name, “wasn’t meant to be a fiction; it was meant to be the resurrection of an erasure.” Picoult creates a richly detailed portrait of daily life in Elizabethan England, from sumptuous castles to seedy hovels. Melina’s story is less vivid: Where Emilia found support from the witty Christopher Marlowe, Melina has a fashion-loving gay roommate; where Emilia faces the ravages of repeated outbreaks of plague, for Melina, Covid-19 occurs largely offstage; where Emilia has a passionate affair with the adoring Earl of Southampton, Melina’s lover is an awkward New York Times theater critic. It’s Emilia’s story, and Picoult lovingly brings her to life.
A vibrant tale of a remarkable woman.Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9780593497210
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
© 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.
