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THE HOUSE OF MEMORY

Name: THE HOUSE OF MEMORY
Author: Nicholas R. Clifford
ISBN: 0-345-38149-1

by Nicholas R. Clifford ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 6, 1994

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In his first novel, historian Clifford (Retreat from China, not reviewed) sets fictional characters in motion against the backdrop of Shanghai during two explosive historical moments: 1989 and 1925-27. Harvard Chinese history PhD Matthew Walker teaches at a small northern Massachusetts college and hopes that the book he's working on about Shanghai will boost his chances for tenure. Returning to the city in 1989 to complete his research, Matthew has also promised to find out what happened to his girlfriend Laura's great- uncle Simon, a writer who disappeared from Shanghai in 1927, just after a Communist uprising was put down by the Nationalists. Against a contemporary background of student cries for democracy in Tiananmen Square, Matthew is gradually compelled to take a political stand, as was Simon, who, we discover from the diary he kept (interwoven in the text with Matthew's adventures), led a double life. Clifford compellingly describes the charged atmosphere of 1920s-era Shanghai—filled with revolutionaries, foreign police, spies, and drug lords—and offers thoughtful insights into Chinese character, language, and politics. But the author is better at placing people in a historical context than evoking personal dramas: The scenes between Matthew and Laura before he leaves for Shanghai drag on for too long, as does the build-up to an explanation of Simon's significance, although the pacing picks up once chunks of the writer's past are revealed. At times Clifford's prose is gratifyingly reflective, even lyrical, but more often it has a dry academic tone. Like a Chinese painting in which humans seem dwarfed by a vast natural backdrop, the book works as a social study rather than a portrait of individual characters. A rewarding read for those curious about China, but not good enough for people who expect more from fiction than a history lesson.

Pub Date: June 6, 1994

ISBN: 0-345-38149-1

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1994

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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BETWEEN SISTERS

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2003

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...

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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

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WOMEN
by Kristin Hannah

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FOUR WINDS
by Kristin Hannah

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREAT ALONE
by Kristin Hannah

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

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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.