An unpretentiously philosophical assessment of class and love.
A romantic historical novel that examines a clash of classes in 19th-century England.
When the eighth Earl of Staton dies, it paves the way for the succession of his brother, Richard Meriwether, who isn’t generally considered by his family, or by himself, to be suitable for the throne. In fact, he’s so daunted by his new position he seems eager to shirk his duties. He’s also unwed and lacks a prospective heir, though rumors swirl that he might have already fathered an illegitimate child. His niece, Daphne, raised in Connecticut, returns to Hembry Castle with her father, Frederick, who’s taken over editing the Daily Observer. Frederick is known as “the wayward” because he exiled himself to study literature at Oxford University and then made a life in America to avoid the stuffy trappings of aristocracy. His daughter, Daphne, was raised according to this ideal, and she struggles to acclimate herself to her strange new environment that’s also her birthright. She meets Edward, a reporter and rising literary star who works for Frederick; the two are immediately drawn to each other, but because his grandparents work as help at the castle, the two are separated by a yawning chasm of socioeconomic disparity. Also, Edward is already engaged to Christina, though the new situation challenges his feelings for her: “He had convinced Christina that Miss Meriwether was nothing to him. Now he only had to convince himself.” Allard (History Will Be Kind, 2015, etc.) is a seasoned author, and her experience shows in both the lapidary prose and the sensitivity with which she treats class division. Edward, for example, comes from humble origins, but he’s shown to be actually more comfortable with upper-class stodginess than Daphne is, as he grew up in the castle. Daphne’s father, meanwhile, is marvelously progressive, but it’s intriguingly unclear if he’s completely liberated himself from his affluent station. Overall, this is a delightful, often funny story that also serves as a gimlet-eyed study of class division and the possibility of its transcendence.
An unpretentiously philosophical assessment of class and love.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-692-63140-9
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Copperfield Press
Review Posted Online: June 14, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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