A sobfest about a mother, her brain-damaged child, and the two men she’s loved. Rice’s eighth novel confirms the worst fears of those who admired her earlier work, particularly Crazy in Love (1988) and the flawed but interesting Secrets of Paris (1991). Perhaps in an effort to gain wide readership—and maybe even a nod from the all-powerful Oprah—a solid domestic novelist has turned sentimental and trendy, constructing her story around topics a generous publicist might call “ripped from today’s headlines” and a disappointed fan might deem way too topical and formulaic. Shortly before Dianne Robbins gave birth to a developmentally disabled daughter, her handsome, irresponsible fisherman husband, Tim McIntosh, leaves her. He couldn’t deal with the fact that his child would be less than perfect. Twelve years later Dianne and Julia are in the same rural Connecticut town, dependent on Dianne’s plainspoken librarian mother, Lucinda, and Tim’s pediatrician brother, Alan, whom Dianne had dated once before marrying Tim. Although Alan is still in love with Dianne, instead of admitting this to her’she loves him too, by the way—he stays close by ministering to Julia. Soon, however, the lovers admit their feelings and ba-boom, something bad happens: Dianne is in a freak accident, and by mistake the wrong McIntosh—Tim—is called to the scene. Will the long-suffering Dianne, the ideal mother, the Good Person, succumb to her ex’s charms? Will Alan the Saint forgive Tim for behavior that stems, Rice tells us, from his pain at watching another brother die in adolescence? In case all this isn’t hokey enough, tune in to the misunderstood neighbor girl who baby-sits for Julia and provides Dianne with a glimpse of the daughter she might have had, and to last chapter, “Julia’s Story,” in which the 12-year-old who cannot speak reveals her thoughts and feelings. Predictable plot, stock characters, and unnuanced emotion. The good news: At least there are no violins.
Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2000
ISBN: 0-553-11073-X
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bantam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1999
Honeyman’s endearing debut is part comic novel, part emotional thriller, and part love story.
A very funny novel about the survivor of a childhood trauma.
At 29, Eleanor Oliphant has built an utterly solitary life that almost works. During the week, she toils in an office—don’t inquire further; in almost eight years no one has—and from Friday to Monday she makes the time go by with pizza and booze. Enlivening this spare existence is a constant inner monologue that is cranky, hilarious, deadpan, and irresistible. Eleanor Oliphant has something to say about everything. Riding the train, she comments on the automated announcements: “I wondered at whom these pearls of wisdom were aimed; some passing extraterrestrial, perhaps, or a yak herder from Ulan Bator who had trekked across the steppes, sailed the North Sea, and found himself on the Glasgow-Edinburgh service with literally no prior experience of mechanized transport to call upon.” Eleanor herself might as well be from Ulan Bator—she’s never had a manicure or a haircut, worn high heels, had anyone visit her apartment, or even had a friend. After a mysterious event in her childhood that left half her face badly scarred, she was raised in foster care, spent her college years in an abusive relationship, and is now, as the title states, perfectly fine. Her extreme social awkwardness has made her the butt of nasty jokes among her colleagues, which don’t seem to bother her much, though one notices she is stockpiling painkillers and becoming increasingly obsessed with an unrealistic crush on a local musician. Eleanor’s life begins to change when Raymond, a goofy guy from the IT department, takes her for a potential friend, not a freak of nature. As if he were luring a feral animal from its hiding place with a bit of cheese, he gradually brings Eleanor out of her shell. Then it turns out that shell was serving a purpose.
Honeyman’s endearing debut is part comic novel, part emotional thriller, and part love story.Pub Date: May 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2068-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
A fable about the consolatory and strengthening powers of religion flounders about somewhere inside this unconventional coming-of-age tale, which was shortlisted for Canada’s Governor General’s Award. The story is told in retrospect by Piscine Molitor Patel (named for a swimming pool, thereafter fortuitously nicknamed “Pi”), years after he was shipwrecked when his parents, who owned a zoo in India, were attempting to emigrate, with their menagerie, to Canada. During 227 days at sea spent in a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger (mostly with the latter, which had efficiently slaughtered its fellow beasts), Pi found serenity and courage in his faith: a frequently reiterated amalgam of Muslim, Hindu, and Christian beliefs. The story of his later life, education, and mission rounds out, but does not improve upon, the alternately suspenseful and whimsical account of Pi’s ordeal at sea—which offers the best reason for reading this otherwise preachy and somewhat redundant story of his Life.
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-15-100811-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2002
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