Which pile of money and bricks will win? Readers who settle into Coleridge’s elaborately enfolded tale will surely want to...
A witty, entertaining and ever-so-British report from the upper-class war.
Miles Straker, “a grasper of hands, a hugger of both men and women,” is the lord of a mews house in Mayfair (headquarters of his wildly profitable PR firm), a stucco townhouse on Holland Park (his weekday home) and a stately retreat in Hampshire: Chawbury Manor, an estate on which, writes Coleridge (A Much Married Man, 2007, etc.), “Miles liked to imply that his own family had been settled…for rather longer than they had.” Miles fancies himself an old-money, baronial sort and disdains newcomers with lots more cash and connections. Among them is supermarket magnate Ross Clegg, who has bought the cottage across the way from Chawbury Manor and plans to replace it with what Miles describes as “an overgrown council house plonked on the horizon.” Certain that this will ruin his property’s value, Miles goes to work telephoning, lobbying, cajoling and threatening, only to find that Ross has beaten him to the punch. Thus begins a war that spills across generations and continents, absorbing the best energies of dozens and filling the datebook of one very busy, very overworked mistress. Coleridge takes his players to fine hotels and posh office towers, serving up the details of a first-class lifestyle in a manner that would do Tom Wolfe proud. The echoes of Austen in the title are a nice touch, though there’s no one here quite as innocent as one might find in dear Jane’s pages. Then again, even the rotters have their good points, particularly as things come increasingly unraveled and “hot rage and humiliation” become the custom of the country.
Which pile of money and bricks will win? Readers who settle into Coleridge’s elaborately enfolded tale will surely want to stick it out to the end to learn the answer—and the payoff is delicious.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-312-38262-9
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2010
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
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
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