A sharply amusing novel in which an octogenarian pundit rediscovers his past.
After his significantly younger wife of 40 years suddenly leaves him for another man, 84-year-old Manhattanite Hugo Gardner searches for answers.
A man of wealth who once was managing editor of Time and who writes books about U.S. presidents, Hugo thought his marriage was a good one, with still-great sex, shared tastes, and a beautiful house in the Hamptons to retreat to. Then his spouse, Valerie, a bestselling food writer, tells him that "living with you is like living with a corpse." And his daughter, Barbara, sides with her mother, calling him "unbearably dreary and unbearably selfish" even as she asks for a handout. Only his son, Rod, "a good guy" who's "doing well at his not-quite-top-tier law firm," offers any solace. During a trip to France, Hugo impulsively looks up Jeanne, the Frenchwoman he long ago dumped for Valerie, and gradually enters into a relationship with her. She lives with her dementia-afflicted husband. Hugo has been diagnosed with possible prostate cancer. What could go wrong? Reading like a personal diary, free of quotation marks, the book unfolds with self-effacing charm. Returning to the comfort of domestic fiction following a trio of mysteries (Killer's Choice, 2019, etc.), the 86-year-old Begley turns in a spry, unerringly smooth performance. As self-absorbed as he is, Hugo wins us over with his indefatigability. Lacking a meaningful connection to his personal adventures, the political commentary in the background is mere window dressing. (Engaging in what he would call "tones of persiflage," Hugo calls Trump a "contemptible swine.") But the novel's late-term spirit never flags.
A sharply amusing novel in which an octogenarian pundit rediscovers his past.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-385-54562-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.
Ten years after her teenage daughter went missing, a mother begins a new relationship only to discover she can't truly move on until she answers lingering questions about the past.
Laurel Mack’s life stopped in many ways the day her 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, left the house to study at the library and never returned. She drifted away from her other two children, Hanna and Jake, and eventually she and her husband, Paul, divorced. Ten years later, Ellie’s remains and her backpack are found, though the police are unable to determine the reasons for her disappearance and death. After Ellie’s funeral, Laurel begins a relationship with Floyd, a man she meets in a cafe. She's disarmed by Floyd’s charm, but when she meets his young daughter, Poppy, Laurel is startled by her resemblance to Ellie. As the novel progresses, Laurel becomes increasingly determined to learn what happened to Ellie, especially after discovering an odd connection between Poppy’s mother and her daughter even as her relationship with Floyd is becoming more serious. Jewell’s (I Found You, 2017, etc.) latest thriller moves at a brisk pace even as she plays with narrative structure: The book is split into three sections, including a first one which alternates chapters between the time of Ellie’s disappearance and the present and a second section that begins as Laurel and Floyd meet. Both of these sections primarily focus on Laurel. In the third section, Jewell alternates narrators and moments in time: The narrator switches to alternating first-person points of view (told by Poppy’s mother and Floyd) interspersed with third-person narration of Ellie’s experiences and Laurel’s discoveries in the present. All of these devices serve to build palpable tension, but the structure also contributes to how deeply disturbing the story becomes. At times, the characters and the emotional core of the events are almost obscured by such quick maneuvering through the weighty plot.
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-5464-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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