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DEGREES OF LOVE

A perfectly pitched tale, about a family literally and metaphorically on trial for child abuse, that illuminates the convoluted workings of the heart, and of the wider world, with grace and intelligence. Jack Keliher and Lily Sterne, who live just outside Boston, have had a loving and close marriage, strengthened by their love of cooking. They are professional chefs who until recently owned a catering business and store, but life hasn’t been easy recently. The business has failed, they owe lots of money, and though they were pleased when Katie was born, a welcome addition to sons Greg and Ben, Lily experienced post-partum depression and hasn’t really recovered, even though Katie is now 18 months old. She also misses working with Jack, who has taken a corporate catering job to help pay the bills. When Katie is accidently burned, Lily is accused by the hospital, and then the State, of being irresponsible. Her unhappiness and mental health history—she was hospitalized as a teenager in New York for attempted suicide—are central to the State’s charge. The family is investigated by a zealous and nicely obtuse social worker who puts the worst interpretation on everything. Katie recovers but is put in her grandmother’s custody, and as Lily and Jack prepare for a hearing, collecting affidavits, getting a lawyer, and being evaluated by a psychiatrist, both record their feelings. Jack finds himself blaming Lily, while Lily, heartsick, feels isolated and worries about the effects of the accident on the two boys. She’s exonerated by the hearing, but the aftermath is not much easier. She begins receiving hate mail and nasty phone calls; Ben needs counseling as he reacts badly to the protracted stress; and Jack and Lily remain estranged. Hard-earned insights lead eventually to a loving reconciliation and the promise of new, and better, beginnings. A well-rendered victory of love and common sense in a notable debut novel.

Pub Date: April 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-393-04625-7

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1998

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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

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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MAGIC HOUR

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

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