Hardly a Booker contender, but an enjoyable bedtime read.
Second novel, first US publication from Britisher Challis: a surprisingly affecting tale about an old lady’s (and an old horse’s) last chance for the grand life.
When plucky Maeve Delaney finds herself in London with only 35 quid, she reluctantly decides it’s time to find some sort of work. With help from best friend Sophie (they went to a posh girls’ school together; Maeve’s vagabond life is her own choice), Maeve lands a job as caregiver to Lady Pamela. Since injuring her hip, Lady Pamela has been wasting away in the Somerset countryside, knowing that soon either death or her daughter-in-law Bunty (who’s got extravagant ideas about remodeling Lady Pam’s house for herself) will be removing her from her beloved Charlton House. Death would be a welcome relief from old age, but to be placed in an old folk’s home—that’s more than the proud Lady can bear. Unbeknownst to everyone, Maeve is to the rescue. A sort of wild, foul-mouthed, sexy Mary Poppins, Maeve isn’t bullied by Lady Pamela’s haughty ways, and in no time has the old girl out of bed and up for garden strolls, installs cable for the new big-screen TV, and includes a nice stiff drink with their evening meals. Soon Maeve discovers the existence of Irish Dancer, Lady Pam’s racehorse that was a serious contender before an injury that’s now behind her. Maeve and Lady Pam conspire to bring Irish Dancer back into form, which of course gives Lady Pamela a new lease on life as well. Though her plot’s simple, Challis peoples her tale with an assortment of likable characters: Sophie, who is struggling to reinvent herself after her husband left her with twin toddlers to raise; gentleman Sam, Lady Pam’s longtime beau; and Matt, the country vet. An interesting twist saves the story from becoming too chirpy and full of false good will.
Hardly a Booker contender, but an enjoyable bedtime read.Pub Date: May 19, 2003
ISBN: 0-312-31446-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
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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