A captivating, heart-wrenching mosaic of life experiences encompassing family, tragedy, mental health, and fortitude.
A debut novel details love lost through the voice of a compassionate but jaded writer.
Protagonist Stone Lyon begins his narration in the Prologue with a disclaimer: “This journal is meant for those who still fall for the fairytale of true love, to educate them in the folly behind this mindless faith by revealing the ravages that come from believing in hopes and dreams, passion and love.” He recounts his family’s history and the story of his own life, spending his childhood in Mobile, Alabama, and then moving to California on the whim of his father. Throughout his trajectory, the protagonist deals with an immense amount of losses, starting at a young age when a new friend puts himself in danger to save Stone from being murdered. As a young adult, he suffers multiple tragedies in the form of suicides involving friends and lovers. He continues to persevere and pursue his dream of becoming a journalist, but the extensive heartache he has endured starts to take a toll on his spirit. He soon finds himself working as a counselor in a home for troubled youth, as his “savior goal exploded into manic passion” as a way to cope with his trauma. As the tale progresses, Stone continues to face difficult setbacks, sparking a preoccupation with his own death. Beginning the poignant novel with Stone’s ultimate expectation of committing suicide, Lynn sets a tone of palpable tension that propels the plot forward. The journalistic narrative is engrossing, and readers should find themselves absorbed in Stone’s retelling of his countless misfortunes, driven by their curiosity and the desire to find the reasons that he has decided to kill himself. While the story is rich in detail and intricate character development, the subject matter is heavy and not for the faint of heart. But the multitude of tribulations that Stone copes with, while depressing, helps the reader to understand more fully why he feels the way he does.
A captivating, heart-wrenching mosaic of life experiences encompassing family, tragedy, mental health, and fortitude.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5320-0661-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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