An engaging read about a widow unearthing her family history.
After a tragic accident, a young mother finds inspiration in the 19th-century diaries of her great-great-grandmother in this debut novel.
Readers meet Rachel Tate in her favorite room, the kitchen, preparing a sumptuous weekend breakfast for her husband, Hayden, and their three young sons: 8-year-old Jake, 5-year-old Randy, and baby Ollie. Before the day is over, Hayden drowns rescuing Randy, leaving Rachel devastated. For weeks, she is barely able to climb out of bed. Then her mother, Meredith, asks for help. It is time to move Rachel’s grandmother, whose heart is failing, into her parents’ house, and here begins the protagonist’s discovery of her family’s maternal history. First it is the uncovering of an old photo of Anna and Sal, Rachel’s great-great-grandparents. Then she finds three journals Anna kept during her first years as a young bride, farming the arid plain outside Pueblo, Colorado. It turns out that Anna also lost her first husband, John, in an accident. She was left with an infant son and a child on the way. As Rachel reads the diaries to Gram, she begins to appreciate her grandmother’s mantra: “We’re Murdocks. We can do hard things.” Crystal moves beyond the confines of the diaries to narrate Anna’s story in greater detail, skillfully interrupting the primary tale of Rachel’s gradual progression with chapters devoted to Anna and her struggles. The author’s attention to the particulars of Anna’s daily chores brings the late 19th century to life and serves as a nice counterpoint to Rachel’s 21st-century conveniences. Generally well-crafted prose and realistic dialogue in this promising first novel are occasionally overwhelmed by Crystal’s obvious fondness for similes: Rachel’s “eyes felt like hard boiled eggs rolled in sawdust” and “Fear filled Rachel’s limbs like water-soaked timbers.” And there are a couple of small errors, as when a diary entry involving Anna’s first husband is incorrectly dated “1891,” by which time John would have already died. But foodies should enjoy Rachel’s passion for cooking and her devotion to complicated meal preparation, which will leave readers reaching for the nearest snacks.
An engaging read about a widow unearthing her family history.Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5462-1654-4
Page Count: 342
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: Jan. 29, 2018
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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