A witty, at times cutting collection.
The dreams and decisions, responsibilities and responses of five female academics at a questionable college in Georgia.
In a sequence of linked stories concluding with the titular novella, López (The Darling, 2015, etc.) draws an empathetic, often savagely comic portrait of the struggles of working women in what might be deemed an elite profession. However, as the women learn, there is minimal prestige attached to Birnbrau Women’s College, home of the Birnbrau Surprise (more like a baffling disappointment)—known fittingly as the BS. This is an institution that sets the academic bar ultra-low, delivers suspicious food in a dining hall known as The Gag, makes punitive budget cuts, and appoints less qualified men over more qualified women. López’s spotlight is on “five newbies” whose full, often arduous existences extend well beyond the professorial. Two have active love lives: Jane Ellen Klamath in “Careful Interventions” realizes her involvement with a man her friends have dubbed “Tall Drink” (of Water) might be heading in the right direction, and Hailey Linder, in “Truffles,” has a thing going with the supervising groundskeeper. But Lucinda Aragon is an abuse survivor, Dev Grisham in “Peach State Surety” learns her female lover is slipping away, and Kerry Fujimori, in “15 Beads More,” still has nightmares about her ex-husband. López fleshes out backstories filled with problem children, overstretched days, and finances, these struggles bolstered at least in part by the women’s mutual friendship. The novella, rather long and repetitive, encapsulates several of the collection’s themes, especially the inhibiting qualities of ingrained female behavior, as the group, on an artists’ retreat, struggles with an attention-hungry member. López writes entertainingly, with fine observation, but the focuses of her criticism can sometimes seem like easy targets.
A witty, at times cutting collection.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-943491-18-6
Page Count: 236
Publisher: BkMk/Univ. of Missouri-Kansas City
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
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