An unusual story of escaping problems and then learning to face them.
An inspiring debut novel about finding meaning in life even when it seems impossible.
Clara Kozlowski, wife and mother, is at a crossroads in her life. She spends her days in a loveless marriage, killing time at work as she tries to make ends meet and cover her mortgage payments. The monotony of her life takes a frightening turn, however, when a doctor’s appointment reveals unwelcome news: Clara has a lump in her breast. Her day-to-day worries pale in the face of what could be impending tragedy, and her stress level worsens when her husband views the news as an inconvenience to him alone. She catches him in a compromising position later that night, so she escapes her cold, unfeeling home, finding refuge in her sister Mara’s house. Facing possible death, Clara is now determined to live her life as she wants. In the meantime, straight-laced police officer Nelson Little has just turned 49. Unlike some of his fellow officers who abuse their authority, he embraces his duty as a policeman and finds his job deeply satisfying. But his quiet existence leads to a lonely life with little excitement. His path crosses with Clara’s in an unlikely way as the two broken people take to the sea, where they achieve the happiness that has eluded them. Told in straightforward prose, this is a highly readable, thought-provoking story of two people confronting the dissatisfaction in their lives. Clara and Nelson are well-sketched, complex characters whose strength of conviction both harms and helps them. But as they learn to let go of their fears, they confront themselves in new ways. It’s an atypical tale of surprises and gentle twists that will resonate with anyone who’s been frustrated by life choices and eager for a new beginning.
An unusual story of escaping problems and then learning to face them.Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4808-1968-9
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Archway Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 6, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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