An earnest effort, but its mature themes and convoluted messages will likely be lost on younger readers.
In this debut work of fiction, ONeill tells a tale of a bear and her pets that explores its characters’ psychological problems.
Bea is a bear who developed an exercise program to stay “wee” after being bullied about her weight. Many of her physical exercises are connected with honey, her “’be good to myself’ treat”; they include “STEPSTOOLING” to reach a jar of honey, and “FINE MOTOR WEIGHT LIFTING” to scoop it into her mouth. She also does mental exercises, such as mindfully noticing things around her, meditating, and talking to “THE MAKER OF EVERYTHING.” During one of Bea’s strolls, she befriends a cat named Scruffy, invites him to her cave, and becomes his caregiver. Scruffy had run away from an abusive home and he retained many traumatic memories, which complicated his new life with Bea. When his nighttime yowling keeps her up, she evicts him from her cave. But after consulting with her wise beaver friend, she decides to resume taking care of Scruffy (whom she renames “Scruffles”), and she protects him from other feline bullies. Later, she also takes in Sweet Puppy, another previously abused animal with poor self-esteem. Bea learns to deal with her own and others’ psychological issues with the help of her many exercises, and especially, the help of “THE MAKER.” Everyone eventually finds balance and happiness. Bea’s exercises may give readers some new ideas about how to solve their own problems. However, the book’s adult themes, such as physical abuse and “co-dependent” relationships, seem out of place, given the juvenile tone. Also, the story’s morals are often ambiguous; for example, it’s unclear whether taking care of Scruffles and Puppy is intended to be seen as good (because Bea is being charitable) or bad (because it brings significant problems into her life). Other lessons are heavy-handed, such as the importance of thanking and consulting God. There are also distracting typos (such as “luxuary” on the first page) and grammatical errors throughout.
An earnest effort, but its mature themes and convoluted messages will likely be lost on younger readers.Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5320-3062-8
Page Count: 80
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2018
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
Britisher Swift's sixth novel (Ever After, 1992 etc.) and fourth to appear here is a slow-to-start but then captivating tale of English working-class families in the four decades following WW II. When Jack Dodds dies suddenly of cancer after years of running a butcher shop in London, he leaves a strange request—namely, that his ashes be scattered off Margate pier into the sea. And who could better be suited to fulfill this wish than his three oldest drinking buddies—insurance man Ray, vegetable seller Lenny, and undertaker Vic, all of whom, like Jack himself, fought also as soldiers or sailors in the long-ago world war. Swift's narrative start, with its potential for the melodramatic, is developed instead with an economy, heart, and eye that release (through the characters' own voices, one after another) the story's humanity and depth instead of its schmaltz. The jokes may be weak and self- conscious when the three old friends meet at their local pub in the company of the urn holding Jack's ashes; but once the group gets on the road, in an expensive car driven by Jack's adoptive son, Vince, the story starts gradually to move forward, cohere, and deepen. The reader learns in time why it is that no wife comes along, why three marriages out of three broke apart, and why Vince always hated his stepfather Jack and still does—or so he thinks. There will be stories of innocent youth, suffering wives, early loves, lost daughters, secret affairs, and old antagonisms—including a fistfight over the dead on an English hilltop, and a strewing of Jack's ashes into roiling seawaves that will draw up feelings perhaps unexpectedly strong. Without affectation, Swift listens closely to the lives that are his subject and creates a songbook of voices part lyric, part epic, part working-class social realism—with, in all, the ring to it of the honest, human, and true.
Pub Date: April 5, 1996
ISBN: 0-679-41224-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1996
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