Intriguing and quirky, if sometimes underwhelming, tales.
This collection of short stories explores the bonds between humans and animals.
The tales offered here center on a Polish family and are recounted by Aldek, who, at the opening of the book, is a young boy with conflicting feelings about animals. The volume is divided into four sections. The first, “Poland Stories,” provides a glimpse of the narrator’s younger years growing up under Communism. “Paw, A Zakopane Dog” tells of a cunning family pet who steals a steak from the local cardiologist. Meanwhile, in “Oskar Weasel,” the narrator plans to save a weasel from two boys who pit it against a dog for sport. The book’s second part, “Roxy Stories,” finds Aldek living in America, a husband and father who, in “The Adoption,” surreptitiously acquires a dog called Roxy for the family while his wife is away. The third section, “Marta Stories,” focuses on Aldek’s wife; “Mikimoto Pearls” features the narrator searching for a landmark anniversary gift. The final segment, “Philadelphia Stories,” contains assorted animal-related anecdotes, such as “Sojourner Possum,” in which the unwanted marsupial invades the narrator’s vegetable garden during the Covid-19 pandemic. Roman’s stories are generally lighthearted, with the Polish author displaying a wry wit. When gathering book titles to teach his family about dog ownership, Aldek amusingly includes “Old Yeller…The Incredible Journey, even Stephen King’s Cujo—so they could learn the amazing loyalty and ability of dogs, but also know to stay away from rabid Saint Bernards.” The opening tales demonstrate greater depth, capturing family life intertwined with broader sociopolitical commentary: “The ray of sunshine disappeared in two years as the Party disempowered Solidarity and returned Poland to a Communist gloom.” As the volume progresses, the storylines become increasingly bland and the link to animals more tenuous. In “Mikimoto Pearls,” the author tells readers: “An oyster is definitely an animal….You’ll have to settle for an oyster.” But in “God’s Revelation to Jan the Human,” a laborious story about a contractor with a gambling problem fixing a leaking pipe, Roman concedes: “I am including one human animal in this bestiary.” Despite some humorous moments, this collection veers disappointingly off course as it struggles to hold the audience’s attention.
Intriguing and quirky, if sometimes underwhelming, tales.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 979-8-9857500-0-3
Page Count: 293
Publisher: Chestnut Hill Press
Review Posted Online: June 14, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A vivid, exciting page-turner from one of our most interesting authors of historical fiction.
When a man accused of rape turns up dead, an Early American town seeks justice amid rumors and controversy.
Lawhon’s fifth work of historical fiction is inspired by the true story and diaries of midwife Martha Ballard of Hallowell, Maine, a character she brings to life brilliantly here. As Martha tells her patient in an opening chapter set in 1789, “You need not fear….In all my years attending women in childbirth, I have never lost a mother.” This track record grows in numerous compelling scenes of labor and delivery, particularly one in which Martha has to clean up after the mistakes of a pompous doctor educated at Harvard, one of her nemeses in a town that roils with gossip and disrespect for women’s abilities. Supposedly, the only time a midwife can testify in court is regarding paternity when a woman gives birth out of wedlock—but Martha also takes the witness stand in the rape case against a dead man named Joshua Burgess and his living friend Col. Joseph North, whose role as judge in local court proceedings has made the victim, Rebecca Foster, reluctant to make her complaint public. Further complications are numerous: North has control over the Ballard family's lease on their property; Rebecca is carrying the child of one of her rapists; Martha’s son was seen fighting with Joshua Burgess on the day of his death. Lawhon weaves all this into a richly satisfying drama that moves suspensefully between childbed, courtroom, and the banks of the Kennebec River. The undimmed romance between 40-something Martha and her husband, Ephraim, adds a racy flair to the proceedings. Knowing how rare the quality of their relationship is sharpens the intensity of Martha’s gaze as she watches the romantic lives of her grown children unfold. As she did with Nancy Wake in Code Name Hélène (2020), Lawhon creates a stirring portrait of a real-life heroine and, as in all her books, includes an endnote with detailed background.
A vivid, exciting page-turner from one of our most interesting authors of historical fiction.Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780385546874
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of...
Lifelong, conflicted friendship of two women is the premise of Hannah’s maudlin latest (Magic Hour, 2006, etc.), again set in Washington State.
Tallulah “Tully” Hart, father unknown, is the daughter of a hippie, Cloud, who makes only intermittent appearances in her life. Tully takes refuge with the family of her “best friend forever,” Kate Mularkey, who compares herself unfavorably with Tully, in regards to looks and charisma. In college, “TullyandKate” pledge the same sorority and major in communications. Tully has a life goal for them both: They will become network TV anchorwomen. Tully lands an internship at KCPO-TV in Seattle and finagles a producing job for Kate. Kate no longer wishes to follow Tully into broadcasting and is more drawn to fiction writing, but she hesitates to tell her overbearing friend. Meanwhile a love triangle blooms at KCPO: Hard-bitten, irresistibly handsome, former war correspondent Johnny is clearly smitten with Tully. Expecting rejection, Kate keeps her infatuation with Johnny secret. When Tully lands a reporting job with a Today-like show, her career shifts into hyperdrive. Johnny and Kate had started an affair once Tully moved to Manhattan, and when Kate gets pregnant with daughter Marah, they marry. Kate is content as a stay-at-home mom, but frets about being Johnny’s second choice and about her unrealized writing ambitions. Tully becomes Seattle’s answer to Oprah. She hires Johnny, which spells riches for him and Kate. But Kate’s buttons are fully depressed by pitched battles over slutwear and curfews with teenaged Marah, who idolizes her godmother Tully. In an improbable twist, Tully invites Kate and Marah to resolve their differences on her show, only to blindside Kate by accusing her, on live TV, of overprotecting Marah. The BFFs are sundered. Tully’s latest attempt to salvage Cloud fails: The incorrigible, now geriatric hippie absconds once more. Just as Kate develops a spine, she’s given some devastating news. Will the friends reconcile before it’s too late?
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of poignancy.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-312-36408-3
Page Count: 496
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2007
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.
