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
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
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
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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