A superbly researched book about the French and British fight for North America, Endicott’s story muscles through adventure...
In Endicott’s first installment of his historical fiction series, girl-hero Molly Lake fights to reunite her family while a European war for North America rages.
From the first page, Molly Lake is on a mission. Her baby brother has been pitilessly murdered and her mother carried away by French soldiers, so Molly’s vengeful father, with his daughter in tow, sets out to save his wife and reunite the family. The time is 1759 and French and British forces are battling for control of portions of North America. Endicott’s book reads like a blockbuster movie; chapters are a few pages in length, cliffhangers abound and characters are drawn economically, for maximum effect. This is an action-packed story, the cast of characters drawn in bold, primary colors. Molly is a familiar, plucky heroine; the beautiful kind of tomboy who can win over the most hardened, notorious of seamen, the sort of girl who can fearlessly battle Micmac Indians, deploy her flawless French to fool French citizenry of her identity and even become the most dangerous of military assets—a spy who also sees good in some who are supposed to be her enemies. Again and again, Molly’s cleverness, fortitude and generous heart save her from mortal danger. Endicott’s past life in the military is on full display here; the author details military strategy with the precision and care that some writers devote to character development. This is not a book for readers who want complex characters, nuanced personal dynamics or original dialogue. Only in the final 100 or so pages does the heroine act like an adolescent girl coming of age among men. In those pages, Molly breaks hearts and realizes that she’s in the thralls of first love, despite the inevitable dangers of her desire. While most of the characters are familiar standards in an action story, the star of the book is its setting. Colonial-era military practices and Quebec itself are lovingly described, becoming a rich backdrop for action.
A superbly researched book about the French and British fight for North America, Endicott’s story muscles through adventure after adventure, all seen through the eyes of an undeniable heroine.Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-098343382
Page Count: 507
Publisher: Griffin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
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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