A compelling and candid tale about starting over in a beguiling environment.
A Los Angeles teacher leaves her job and her husband and moves with her two daughters to start a new life in Humboldt County in this debut novel.
As she approaches her mid-40s, Celeste feels that her life in Southern California is empty. She has a good career in education, but she is unhappy with her philandering husband, Victor. She decides to leave him and take her daughters north to Humboldt County. She is thinking of Tom, an old boyfriend from 27 years ago who lives in the area. In Celeste’s memory, he’s still attractive and reliable, but many years have passed, and his appearance has changed. He’s also in a relationship with Luna, a dreadlocked woman who functions as the emotional pillar of the far-flung community. Tom and Luna generously offer a cabin to stay in, which Celeste gladly accepts even if she is perturbed by the ubiquitous presence of marijuana. Back in LA, Victor has hired a private investigator to find the missing trio, and up in South Humboldt, Celeste’s older daughter has taken a shine to Jonah, Tom and Luna’s son. Jake, Tom’s son from his first marriage, looks enticing to Celeste despite a sizable age difference. As Celeste begins to love her new home, she unwisely gets into a relationship with Jake while the ever present threat of the authorities looms over the isolated area where marijuana rules all. Moskowitz’s novel is written with the kind of rich details and realistic insights that insiders would know. She deftly describes this alternate world among the redwood forests as a place of refuge and healing, where the morality is pure but untamed and flirts with criminality. Sometimes, everything seems upside down in this realm (“In SoHum the rivers all flowed north, like the Nile”). Not every choice Celeste makes is stellar, but the tragedies are as integral to her vivid journey as the abundant benefits.
A compelling and candid tale about starting over in a beguiling environment.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism.
Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love.
Bree is a friendly but standoffish bookstore owner who keeps everyone she knows at arm’s length, from guys she meets in bars to her friends. Mikki is a settled-in-her-routines divorced mother of two, happily a mom, gift-shop owner, and co-parent with her ex-husband, Perry. And Ashley is a young, very-much-in-love bakery owner specializing in muffins who devotes herself to giving back to the community through a nonprofit that helps community members develop skills and find jobs. When the women meet drooling over a boardwalk storefront that none of them can afford on her own, a plan is hatched to divide the space in three, and a friendship—and business partnership—is born. An impromptu celebration on the beach at sunset with champagne becomes a weekly touchpoint to their lives as they learn more about each other and themselves. Their friendship blossoms as they help each other, offering support, hard truths, and loving backup. Author Mallery has created a delightful story of friendship between three women that also offers a variety of love stories as they fall in love, make mistakes, and figure out how to be the best—albeit still flawed—versions of themselves. The men are similarly flawed and human. While the story comes down clearly on the side of all-encompassing love, Mallery has struck a careful balance: There is just enough sex to be spicy, just enough swearing to be naughty, and just enough heartbreak to avoid being cloying.
A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism.Pub Date: May 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-778-38608-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
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