It’s the summer of 1947 in small-town South Carolina, and 14-year-old Afton has a lot to worry about. Her beloved brother died in the war, and her father, a merchant marine, is rarely home, leaving her alone with her increasingly unhinged mother. The beautiful Jo Helen has come to town, turning the head of John Howard, Afton’s longtime intended beau. The waif-like Pearl Ann, a “sorry-looking child from the cheap, stale-beer side of town,” has attached herself to her, tugging Afton’s unwilling heartstrings. And a mysterious man—an uncle Afton has never heard of—has moved in, disturbing what little peace remains in her household. Matthews (John Riley’s Daughter, 2000) lets Afton tell her story in the present tense, vividly bringing to life the climatological and cultural closeness of a small Southern town, where just about anything becomes grist for the neighborhood gossip mill. Her voice is searingly honest in describing her relationships, particularly when speaking of her mother: “All I know is that the older I get, the wider the distance between us grows, and now, with Bailey here, it has a sharper edge to it.” While voice, setting, and relationships are skillfully presented, the story itself lacks momentum, plodding along until the end, where events rush to resolve themselves in a most melodramatic fashion after Pearl Ann’s mother is found murdered and Uncle Bailey’s terrible secret is found out. And despite the emotional honesty of the bulk of the narrative, the conclusion seeks an easy and unconvincing rapprochement between mother and daughter. Ultimately, superbly realized voice and atmosphere cannot here compensate for flawed plotting. (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8126-2890-X
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Cricket
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Evocations of Narnia are not enough to salvage this fantasy, which struggles with thin character development.
A portal fantasy survivor story from an established devotional writer.
Fourteen-year-old Eva’s maternal grandmother lives on a grand estate in England; Eva and her academic parents live in New Haven, Connecticut. When she and Mum finally visit Carrick Hall, Eva is alternately resentful at what she’s missed and overjoyed to connect with sometimes aloof Grandmother. Alongside questions of Eva’s family history, the summer is permeated by a greater mystery surrounding the work of fictional children’s fantasy writer A.H.W. Clifton, who wrote a Narnialike series that Eva adores. As it happens, Grandmother was one of several children who entered and ruled Ternival, the world of Clifton’s books; the others perished in 1952, and Grandmother hasn’t recovered. The Narnia influences are strong—Eva’s grandmother is the Susan figure who’s repudiated both magic and God—and the ensuing trauma has created rifts that echo through her relationships with her daughter and granddaughter. An early narrative implication that Eva will visit Ternival to set things right barely materializes in this series opener; meanwhile, the religious parable overwhelms the magic elements as the story winds on. The serviceable plot is weakened by shallow characterization. Little backstory appears other than that which immediately concerns the plot, and Eva tends to respond emotionally as the story requires—resentful when her seething silence is required, immediately trusting toward characters readers need to trust. Major characters are cued white.
Evocations of Narnia are not enough to salvage this fantasy, which struggles with thin character development. (author’s note, map, author Q&A) (Religious fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2024
ISBN: 9780593194454
Page Count: 384
Publisher: WaterBrook
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
Witty repartee between the central characters, as well as the occasional well-done set piece, isn’t enough to hold this hefty debut together. Teenagers Seth and Kendra are dropped off by traveling parents at their grandfather’s isolated Connecticut estate, and soon discover why he’s so reluctant to have them—the place is a secret haven for magical creatures, both benign and decidedly otherwise. Those others are held in check by a complicated, unwritten and conveniently malleable Compact that is broken on Midsummer Eve, leaving everyone except Kendra captive in a hidden underground chamber with a newly released demon. Mull’s repeated use of the same device to prod the plot along comes off as more labored than comic: Over and over an adult issues a stern but vague warning; Seth ignores it; does some mischief and is sorry afterward. Sometimes Kendra joins in trying to head off her uncommonly dense brother. She comes into her own at the rousing climax, but that takes a long time to arrive; stick with Michael Buckley’s “Sisters Grimm” tales, which carry a similar premise in more amazing and amusing directions. (Fantasy. 11-13)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-59038-581-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2006
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