A genre-transcending, irreplaceable work: historical fiction at its very best.
It’s hard to believe that this accomplished and potent historical tale is a first novel—a sentiment repeatedly echoed by the rapturous reviews that greeted its initial publication in England in 2001.
British author McCann has set it during the period of the mid–17th-century English Civil War, and incarnated the righteous as well as barbaric energies of that time in her protagonist Jacob Cullen: a brawny, brooding outcast whose forbidden love ennobles, engulfs, and all but destroys him. Jacob’s critical flaw is his uncontrollable temper, which we first glimpse when he and his brothers (charismatic, handsome Zebedee and gentle, forbearing Isaiah), ruined by their landowning family’s financial collapse, labor as manservants at Beaurepair, a wealthy nobleman’s estate. The specter of an unsolved murder hangs over Beaurepair, and when the brothers’ furtive reading of “seditious” literature is reported, the three flee Beaurepair, and Jacob—married in haste, bereft of his young wife—is swept into an alternately perilous and fulfilling adventure. He is “rescued” by soldiers in rebel Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army, takes part in (unsparingly detailed) sieges against the Army’s declared (mostly Catholic) enemies, and discovers his true nature when he falls in love with Christopher Ferris, a softspoken widower who at first reluctantly, at last wholeheartedly, yields to Jacob’s sexual importunings. The necessarily secret affair that binds, then divides the two men (as Jacob’s lack of self-control continuously flares up) imparts tremendous drama to lengthy sequences depicting their intimacy during the war, a long stay in London with Ferris’s doting aunt, and the experiment in communal farming that excites Ferris’s (unpopular and dangerous) democratic ideals and rouses all of Jacob’s festering suspicions and resentments. The inevitable climax, which carries a genuinely tragic charge, is superior even to the densely packed, brilliant pages that precede it.
A genre-transcending, irreplaceable work: historical fiction at its very best.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-601226-X
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Harvest/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2002
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
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