A thorough introduction to an intriguing historical figure.
A novel focuses on St. Francis of Assisi’s transformation from a dissolute youngster into a man of God.
Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone is born in 1182 in Assisi and, from an early age, demonstrates “amiable awareness of others and a love of all things beautiful.” Bored by his studies, he pines for a life more adventurous than his father’s—Pietro is a cloth merchant—and dreams of becoming a troubadour or knight. But he remains a constant source of consternation to his parents—irresponsible and ill-disciplined, he seems destined to waste his life. He grows up during tumultuous times and wants to participate in the military campaigns to protect Assisi, but one night, while suffering from a fever, a disembodied voice tells him it is better to serve God. Later, the voice of God issues him a more specific command: “Francis, go and build up My house, which, as you can see, is falling into ruin.” At first, Francis interprets this literally and devotes himself to the restoration of a country church, but later, he sees a greater meaning in his mission. He articulates a “Rule of Life” that demands an existence of absolute poverty and service to the most disadvantaged. O’Reilly’s book is part of the Mentoris Project, “a series of novels and biographies about the lives of great men and women who have changed history.” The author lucidly reconstructs St. Francis’ extraordinary life as a “profligate-turned-penitent” and the order of friars that formed around him. Her prose is plain, unadorned by literary embellishments, and the plot can be lumbering. One can’t help but wonder why O’Reilly chose to present St. Francis’ life in a novel since she seems to have so little interest in the literary form. But the author’s research is impressive, and she not only furnishes a rigorously synoptic account of the man’s remarkable spiritual journey, but also meticulously covers the turbulent times he endured.
A thorough introduction to an intriguing historical figure.Pub Date: July 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-947431-37-9
Page Count: 292
Publisher: Barbera Foundation
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A vivid, exciting page-turner from one of our most interesting authors of historical fiction.
When a man accused of rape turns up dead, an Early American town seeks justice amid rumors and controversy.
Lawhon’s fifth work of historical fiction is inspired by the true story and diaries of midwife Martha Ballard of Hallowell, Maine, a character she brings to life brilliantly here. As Martha tells her patient in an opening chapter set in 1789, “You need not fear….In all my years attending women in childbirth, I have never lost a mother.” This track record grows in numerous compelling scenes of labor and delivery, particularly one in which Martha has to clean up after the mistakes of a pompous doctor educated at Harvard, one of her nemeses in a town that roils with gossip and disrespect for women’s abilities. Supposedly, the only time a midwife can testify in court is regarding paternity when a woman gives birth out of wedlock—but Martha also takes the witness stand in the rape case against a dead man named Joshua Burgess and his living friend Col. Joseph North, whose role as judge in local court proceedings has made the victim, Rebecca Foster, reluctant to make her complaint public. Further complications are numerous: North has control over the Ballard family's lease on their property; Rebecca is carrying the child of one of her rapists; Martha’s son was seen fighting with Joshua Burgess on the day of his death. Lawhon weaves all this into a richly satisfying drama that moves suspensefully between childbed, courtroom, and the banks of the Kennebec River. The undimmed romance between 40-something Martha and her husband, Ephraim, adds a racy flair to the proceedings. Knowing how rare the quality of their relationship is sharpens the intensity of Martha’s gaze as she watches the romantic lives of her grown children unfold. As she did with Nancy Wake in Code Name Hélène (2020), Lawhon creates a stirring portrait of a real-life heroine and, as in all her books, includes an endnote with detailed background.
A vivid, exciting page-turner from one of our most interesting authors of historical fiction.Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780385546874
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
A sugarcoated take on midcentury suburbia.
A lively and unabashedly sentimental novel examines the impact of feminism on four upper-middle-class white women in a suburb of Washington, D.C., in 1963.
Transplanted Ohioan Margaret Ryan—married to an accountant, raising three young children, and decidedly at loose ends—decides to recruit a few other housewives to form a book club. She’s thinking A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but a new friend, artistic Charlotte Gustafson, suggests Betty Friedan’s brand-new The Feminine Mystique. They’re joined by young Bitsy Cobb, who aspired to be a veterinarian but married one instead, and Vivian Buschetti, a former Army nurse now pregnant with her seventh child. The Bettys, as they christen themselves, decide to meet monthly to read feminist books, and with their encouragement of each other, their lives begin to change: Margaret starts writing a column for a women’s magazine; Viv goes back to work as a nurse; Charlotte and Bitsy face up to problems with demanding and philandering husbands and find new careers of their own. The story takes in real-life figures like the Washington Post’s Katharine Graham and touches on many of the tumultuous political events of 1963. Bostwick treats her characters with generosity and a heavy dose of wish-fulfillment, taking satisfying revenge on the wicked and solving longstanding problems with a few well-placed words, even showing empathy for the more well-meaning of the husbands. As historical fiction, the novel is hampered by its rosy optimism, but its take on the many micro- and macroaggressions experienced by women of the era is sound and eye-opening. Although Friedan might raise an eyebrow at the use her book’s been put to, readers will cheer for Bostwick’s spunky characters.
A sugarcoated take on midcentury suburbia.Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781400344741
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper Muse
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
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