A slave seizes her chance to be free, taking two of her three children with her, and finds that freedom for an African-American woman in the 1850's is not without trials and temptations—in this smooth and sincere, yet overly placid, fictional debut from memoirist Cary (Black Ice, 1991). When Virginia Pryor's master takes her along to warm his bed as he takes up the post of ambassador to Nicaragua, she wastes no time in making her move. During a short stop in Philadelphia she contacts the local Vigilance Committee and with their aid boldly escapes in broad daylight—an event marred only by her knowledge that she leaves her favorite boy still in bondage in Virginia. Changing her name to Mercer Gray, she goes into hiding among the Quick family, a prosperous if contentious Philadelphia clan dominated by patriarch Manny, greedy and bilious though weakened by a stroke. Mercer starts a new life with her children, but her case gains notoriety when her ex-owner brings charges against all who took part in her flight, especially a prominent white abolitionist, who is jailed before being brought to court. In response, Mercer does a lecture tour of New England to stir public sentiment in her favor, proving herself an inspired speaker. Not even her oratorical skills, however, can save her from a pro-slavery mob at her last stop in Pennsylvania, where she has to be rescued by Tyree, the smitten but ill-married Quick family scion, who brings her back to Philadelphia for a night of single, wishful passion. Mercer and her children then head north to Canada, but Tyree, head of the family after Manny dies, sends with them a measure of his love: the remains of the Quick fortune, just enough to purchase Mercer's son's freedom. The history here has depth, but characters for the most part don't, and dramatic touches are rarely potent enough to give pause. Well-intentioned, then, if not noteworthy.
Pub Date: June 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-679-42106-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1995
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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