Realistic, sharply descriptive, and movingly observant writing.
An American soldier returning from Vietnam struggles with flashbacks and the demands of reintegrating into civilian life in this novel by Hartney.
On a flight out of Vietnam in March 1970, Reid Holcombe finds himself surrounded by fellow U.S. Marines celebrating the ends of their final tours of duty. Reid just wants to forget what he’s seen and done in combat and return to his family’s South Carolina tobacco farm. Things have changed back home: His father has died; his sister, Angela, is running the farm; and his wife, Ellie, had an affair with local consultant Diana Welsch. Reid, while deployed, had an affair with a Vietnamese medic. Instead of trying to reconnect with his spouse, he chooses to live on the struggling farm with his sibling while wrestling with his inner demons. The novel also tells the story of Joe Terrell, a Black soldier who returned to rural South Carolina, where he faces constant racism. When Reid asks Joe and his father to work on the farm, their relationship highlights their differences as well as their shared struggles. Hartney’s prose is thoughtfully descriptive, cleverly contrasting rural stillness with soldiers’ psychological turmoil: “A thrush hopped from branch to branch before flitting away. The farm was peaceful, a lean-to shelter in an emotional rainsquall.” The author effectively captures the anger of men who return from war only to be treated as second-class citizens. Joe’s words are particularly biting: “I’m not wanting to be fighting again, but I can’t live less than a man….South ain’t changed. She’ still a whore.” Hartney skillfully exposes the tensions that exist between those transformed by violence, as when Ellie says of her husband: “I’m sure I still have feelings for him. Love, I think. I’m also sure I can’t live with him. We’re both too changed, too damaged.” Certain passages are slightly repetitive, particularly with respect to unpleasant odors. However, this doesn’t detract from this ambitious novel, which addresses issues of PTSD and racial injustice with believable characterization.
Realistic, sharply descriptive, and movingly observant writing.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1509234622
Page Count: 282
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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