A moving, resonant collection of stories that honors its characters’ struggles and passions.
Albanian-American author Hakani presents a trio of heartfelt, interconnected tales about Albanian women.
The author’s first published book in English evocatively reinterprets the sentimental memories of an old family acquaintance and gifted storyteller. Among the women in her family, Hakani says, this elderly woman represented “the times we did not have a chance to live through, the times we looked back at in awe, admiration, and wonder.” The title novella, the most impressive of the group, uses rich, atmospheric detail to recount the lives of an Albanian mother and daughter-in-law, who deal with both the hardships and pleasures of an orthodox, pastoral life. In it, Mariana, a strikingly beautiful woman in the village of Kalasa, lives in an orange grove that she adores. But she finds her life becoming increasingly complicated when her son immigrates alone to America, leaving his own wife, Ana, behind to live with Mariana. After Ana is raped and bears the rapist’s child, the textured, nuanced story becomes a whirlwind of betrayal, misguided passion, obsession, and moral quandary. “Rina” tells of a young widow-turned-seductress who has alluring powers over the village men and of the tragedy and mystery of her death. The final story, “The Awakening,” follows an unlikely friendship between an orphaned, mentally retarded man and a local village woman, for whom he provides farming and caregiving help. Together, they transcend the cruelty of societal limitations to become lovers and life partners, much to the shock and chagrin of the critical villagers. Collectively, Hakani’s profound stories deliver an uplifting, cohesive reading experience filled with intrigue and melodrama, drawing on themes of feminine empowerment and resilience.
A moving, resonant collection of stories that honors its characters’ struggles and passions.Pub Date: April 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4787-5053-6
Page Count: 364
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
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
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
