Part travelogue, part epistolary novel, this tale will engage fans of family sagas.
Debut historical fiction about an upper-class young woman who begins her marriage by traveling from England to the frontiers of Canada in the early 1900s.
In this ambitious novel, Pekter takes readers on a journey that spans approximately 100 years, beginning with the reckless decision of Minnie Sinclair to marry a man she hardly knows. When she meets Harry Worthing Jr. in London, she’s immediately infatuated, forsaking her former love interest as well as her familial obligations to remain near her childhood home. After a whirlwind courtship, she crosses the Atlantic as the new Mrs. Worthing, ready to tackle homesteading in the Dominion of Canada. Unfortunately, the harsh realities of life on the unforgiving Canadian plains quickly change Harry, who becomes cruel. In many letters written to her lifelong friend Emily McCrindle, Minnie discloses the difficult emotional and physical struggles she faces. Emily proves a faithful pen pal and friend, ultimately traveling to Grand Prairie, Alberta, to help Minnie raise her children. The Minnie who awaits Emily on the homestead is much changed, and Emily knows she was right to come. After an additional tragedy strikes the family in Grand Prairie, they relocate to Victoria, where they form new relationships, resulting in multiple generations over several decades. Despite the apparent progress of Minnie’s children and grandchildren, the secrets of her life in Grand Prairie continue to haunt them until they uncover shocking truths. Throughout the novel, Pekter uses a stately, classical prose that lends a feeling of authenticity to the characters’ observations: “The wind has ceased. Its voice must feel as dry and cracked as my hands—both of us exposed to the cold.” There’s a languidness in the first half of the story that deftly reflects the lifestyle of the characters of the era, but the pace gets faster as the plot ascends into the modern era. Along the way, the author presents intriguing details about life on the Canadian Prairies at the turn of the 20th century and about the long-lasting psychological effects of impulsive choices.
Part travelogue, part epistolary novel, this tale will engage fans of family sagas.Pub Date: June 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4602-7792-8
Page Count: 270
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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