Well-crafted fiction that offers little-known details about Panama Canal history.
In Carr’s historical novel, a nurse faces danger and unexpected love during the construction of the Panama Canal.
It’s December 1904 when 23-year old nurse Clara Tyler sets out for Panama from rural Cutler, Ohio, because her 26-year-old railroad engineer brother, Samuel, is too sick from malaria and pneumonia to travel home from there on his own. Clara has never left home, except to attend nursing school, but she’s determined to go on the journey despite her fiance Jasper’s disapproval. She already harbors doubts about her forthcoming marriage, and the prospect of moving in with Jasper and his parents “suffocates” her. In Panama, she finds that her brother is so shockingly gaunt that she leads him straight to a hospital, where he soon dies. On impulse, Clara crosses the Isthmus of Panama on a freight train, passing through the jungle to the excavation site where Samuel lived and worked in appalling conditions. There, she discovers that he’d been keeping notes about safety issues. After falling ill herself from yellow fever and recovering, Clara decides to stay, working at the hospital with Army Col. William Gorgas, a doctor who’s an actual historical figure. Overall, Carr delivers a well-researched story of a young woman breaking free from society’s expectations in this novel. Her research also yields appearances by other real-life historical personages over the course of the story, including John Frank Stevens, the chief engineer of the Panama Canal. Although Jasper comes off as something of a one-dimensional character, Clara is a fully realized human being whose relationships in Panama evolve in unexpected ways. Her quest to improve workers’ safety and support Gorgas’ goal of ridding the isthmus of mosquitoes is also portrayed in a believable manner.
Well-crafted fiction that offers little-known details about Panama Canal history.Pub Date: March 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-578-59152-0
Page Count: 308
Publisher: Bowker
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Light on suspense but still a solid page-turner.
When a devoted husband and father disappears, his wife and daughter set out to find him.
Hannah Hall is deeply in love with her husband of one year, Owen Michaels. She’s also determined to win over his 16-year-old daughter, Bailey, who has made it very clear that she’s not thrilled with her new stepmother. Despite the drama, the family is mostly a happy one. They live in a lovely houseboat in Sausalito; Hannah is a woodturner whose handmade furniture brings in high-dollar clientele; and Owen works for The Shop, a successful tech firm. Their lives are shattered, however, when Hannah receives a note saying “Protect her” and can’t reach Owen by phone. Then there’s the bag full of cash Bailey finds in her school locker and the shocking news that The Shop’s CEO has been taken into custody. Hannah learns that the FBI has been investigating the firm for about a year regarding some hot new software they took to market before it was fully functional, falsifying their financial statements. Hannah refuses to believe her husband is involved in the fraud, and a U.S. marshal assigned to the case claims Owen isn’t a suspect. Hannah doesn’t know whom to trust, though, and she and Bailey resolve to root out the clues that might lead to Owen. They must also learn to trust one another. Hannah’s narrative alternates past and present, detailing her early days with Owen alongside her current hunt for him, and author Dave throws in a touch of danger and a few surprises. But what really drives the story is the evolving nature of Hannah and Bailey’s relationship, which is by turns poignant and frustrating but always realistic.
Light on suspense but still a solid page-turner.Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5011-7134-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
A story with both comedy and heartbreak sure to please Backman fans.
Eight people become unlikely friends during a hostage situation created by an inept bank robber.
In a town in Sweden, a desperate parent turns to bank robbery to help pay the rent. Unfortunately, the target turns out to be a cashless bank, which means that no robbery can take place. In an attempt to flee the police, the would-be perpetrator runs into a nearby apartment building and interrupts an open house, causing the would-be buyers to assume they're being held hostage. After the situation has ended with an absent bank robber and blood on the carpet, a father-and-son police pair work through maddening interviews with the witnesses: the ridiculous realtor; an older couple who renovates and sells apartments in an effort to stay busy; a bickering young couple expecting their first child; a well-off woman interested only in the view from the balcony of a significant bridge in her life; an elderly woman missing her husband as New Year’s Eve approaches; and, absurdly, an actor dressed as a rabbit hired to disrupt the showing and drive down the apartment price. Backman’s latest novel focuses on how a shared event can change the course of multiple people’s lives even in times of deep and ongoing anxiousness. The observer/narrator is winding and given to tangents and, in early moments, might distract a bit too much from the strongly drawn characters. But the story gains energy and sureness as it develops, resulting in moments of insight and connection between its numerous amiable characters.
A story with both comedy and heartbreak sure to please Backman fans.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6083-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2025 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.
