An engrossing, bittersweet comedy—the seventh novel from the author of Rebel Powers (1993), among others—about sexual confusion, Catholic guilt, and Washington in the wake of the JFK administration. Walter Marshall, an energetic 19-year-old, has, in 1964, just realized that he may be wasting his time at the D'Alessandro School of Broadcasting—for, instead of emulating his idol Edward R. Murrow, Walter now suspects that what he really desires is to follow in the footsteps of his other idol, the recently deceased chief executive. Problems rapidly develop. Walter manages to propose to two different older women—co-worker Alice Kane, whose ardent expectation of the physical satisfactions thereby promised conflicts with Walter's strenuously maintained purity, and Natalie Bowman, a vaguely European beauty whose ``tall, lithe figure and. . . dark, aristocratic features reminded him of Jackie Kennedy.'' Walter's inability to say no to any opportunity or entanglement forces him into best-friendship with the awkward, unshakably optimistic Albert Waple, a wonderfully hapless plot to save the D'Alessandro School from its owner's gambling debts, conflict with the equally turbulent romantic life of Walter's widowed mother, and, best of all, a sit-in demonstration at a Maryland restaurant in company with a courageous elderly black woman who may be the most influential of his several mentors and role models. The novel ends with Walter (figuratively) bloodied but unbowed, shorn of his handsome head of hair and many of his illusions, but newly committed to still another ideal. He's a charmer, and the book's lightly worn seriousness of purpose is effectively and pleasingly varied by several very funny scenes—including Alice's heartfelt attempt to surrender to her beau, and Walter's intricately detailed confessions to his bewildered parish priest. It's nice to see Bausch extending his range in a novel that compares favorably with the best work he has done. ($30,000 ad/promo; author tour)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-06-017332-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A bold but flawed debut novel.
There’s a mystery, a coming-of-age, abundant melodrama and even more abundant medical lore in this idiosyncratic first novel from a doctor best known for the memoir My Own Country (1994).
The nun is struggling to give birth in the hospital. The surgeon (is he also the father?) dithers. The late-arriving OB-GYN takes charge, losing the mother but saving her babies, identical twins. We are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1954. The Indian nun, Sister Mary Joseph Praise, was a trained nurse who had met the British surgeon Thomas Stone on a sea voyage ministering to passengers dying of typhus. She then served as his assistant for seven years. The emotionally repressed Stone never declared his love for her; had they really done the deed? After the delivery, Stone rejects the babies and leaves Ethiopia. This is good news for Hema (Dr. Hemalatha, the Indian gynecologist), who becomes their surrogate mother and names them Shiva and Marion. When Shiva stops breathing, Dr. Ghosh (another Indian) diagnoses his apnea; again, a medical emergency throws two characters together. Ghosh and Hema marry and make a happy family of four. Marion eventually emerges as narrator. “Where but in medicine,” he asks, “might our conjoined, matricidal, patrifugal, twisted fate be explained?” The question is key, revealing Verghese’s intent: a family saga in the context of medicine. The ambition is laudable, but too often accounts of operations—a bowel obstruction here, a vasectomy there—overwhelm the narrative. Characterization suffers. The boys’ Ethiopian identity goes unexplored. Shiva is an enigma, though it’s no surprise he’ll have a medical career, like his brother, though far less orthodox. They become estranged over a girl, and eventually Marion leaves for America and an internship in the Bronx (the final, most suspenseful section). Once again a medical emergency defines the characters, though they are not large enough to fill the positively operatic roles Verghese has ordained for them.
A bold but flawed debut novel.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-375-41449-7
Page Count: 560
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2008
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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