This is a sensitive treatment of very different kinds of solitude and pain.
A closeted gay soccer player and an injured teammate’s estranged wife offer an intimate picture of life in the lower reaches of professional British football.
Raisin (Waterline, 2011, etc.), whose first novel, God’s Own Country (2008), was shortlisted for several prizes, has twice inhabited the fictional world of the outsider and does so again with this third novel. Nineteen-year-old Tom Pearman showed promise as a Premier League junior but isn’t promoted and must settle for a fourth-division team named Town. (Be not bemused, Yank reader: Raisin keeps the sport’s arcana to a minimum.) Tom has a “quiet, solitary way” and remains largely apart from the other players, but he soon is drawn to the groundskeeper, Liam. Elsewhere, team captain Chris Easter sees his season collapse under a terrible leg injury that sends him moping to his home’s spare room, physically and emotionally distant from his wife, Leah, and young son. Leah was already feeling isolated as a football spouse, finding it difficult to socialize with other team couples. The focus is largely on Tom and Liam's affair, which is rendered with restraint and sympathy; it's a bold theme, since not a single active British footballer has come out so far. For a while, though, it is Leah’s story that seems to engage Raisin more, with its telling domestic details and an isolation for which there is no prospect of the numbing distraction in the next match. Yet neither of these parallel narratives generates much spark until a link between them and a leak to an internet fan forum stirs devastating fears in Tom and reveals the mindless prejudice and cruelty of his fellow players and fans.
This is a sensitive treatment of very different kinds of solitude and pain.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-525-50877-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Some fictional trips into 1970s New York abound with nostalgia; this novel memorably opts for grit and heartbreak.
The protagonist of this coming-of-age novel set in late-1970s New York City falls under the wing of an unlikely mentor: Lou Reed.
The Sopranos actor Imperioli’s first novel begins with a family sundered. Narrator Matthew details the death of his estranged father, his mother’s growing dependence on pills, and an inheritance that prompts the two of them to leave the confines of their Queens neighborhood for an upscale apartment in Manhattan. Among their neighbors is Lou Reed, at a point in his life when he rapidly veered from grandiose to paranoid, from generous to menacing. As Matthew comes to terms with his feelings for his classmate Veronica, he becomes increasingly aware of perspectives other than his own, along with a growing restlessness. Early on, Matthew recalls a dinner with a boorish friend of his that quickly turns violent, as he lashes out after his friend makes a number of grotesque and sexist comments. At the beginning of the next chapter, he pauses and then recants his earlier words: “I’m a liar. A liar and a coward.” Imperioli plays with this kind of narrative tension throughout. The arc of the novel—a young man forming a tense, unpredictable bond with a mercurial mentor—is familiar, but Imperioli’s lived-in details about the city help make the world feel realistic. And while some of the novel’s characters, Veronica in particular, call out for more time on the page, the end result is an immersive trip into its narrator’s memories of a turbulent time.
Some fictional trips into 1970s New York abound with nostalgia; this novel memorably opts for grit and heartbreak.Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-61775-620-7
Page Count: 270
Publisher: Akashic
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A fast, feel-good story about finding happiness.
A woman attempts to overhaul her life with the help of an unconventional therapist in Giordano’s debut.
Camille is a 30-something Parisian woman with a husband, son, and a good job. She has security, love, and everything she needs—so why does she feel bored and unhappy? When she has a minor car accident during a storm, she stumbles into the home of a man who, conveniently, offers to help her fix her life. Claude deduces that Camille is suffering from a case of acute routinitis, a “sickness of the soul” that means she’s dissatisfied, unmotivated, and unhappy even though she has everything she needs. Claude, as a routinologist, devises an unconventional course of treatment for Camille, one that has her completing some tasks that are simple (such as spring cleaning her house) and some that are slightly odder (such as riding in a hot air balloon) to transform her life. Although Claude’s methods are unusual, Camille hopes they will help her find a deeper connection with her husband and son and perhaps even a better understanding of herself. Giordano has created a quick and light read, but without much information about Camille’s backstory, it’s hard to get invested in her transformation. Claude presents interesting ideas about philosophy and personal growth, but none of them are explored with much complexity. Although it lacks depth at times, it may be a good pick for readers who are looking for a lighter take on Eat, Pray, Love.
A fast, feel-good story about finding happiness.Pub Date: July 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-53559-1
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
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