A portentous debut, but this winner of the Commonwealth Best First Novel Award is proof of a literary talent with more to...
A doomed loved story played out against the planned destruction of an English rural community.
This first novel by British author Hall (her Booker-shortlisted The Electric Michelangelo was published in the US in 2005) uses a real episode—the building of the Haweswater dam in Westmorland in the 1930s—as the foundation for a two-pronged elemental tragedy. The book itself is an ode to the Lakeland in the UK, its fells, gray stone walls and people, and many of its pages are devoted to descriptions of place, season, occupation and weather—especially rain. Heartbreak hangs in the air from the moment the village of Mardale learns of its imminent annihilation, the result of the Manchester City Waterworks building a vast dam and drowning the whole valley. Devout Ella Lightburn and her stoic husband, World War I veteran Samuel, are typical of the stolid local tenant farmers shortly to be dispossessed of home and livelihood, although their children—headstrong, feline Jan and water-obsessed Isaac—have something otherworldly about them. Fiery Jan will fall intensely for the overseer of the dam project, Jack Liggett, “a man she is required to hate above all others.” When he falls and dies while hiking, with her left behind pregnant, she turns demented, tearing at herself in despair, eventually committing suicide with stolen explosives. Isaac grows up to be a diver and elects to drown in the reservoir. Hall paints her scenes in dark, symbolic, sometimes overwrought prose, straining for mythic overtones. Her desperate love story, occasionally reminiscent of Wuthering Heights, staggers under the tragic load heaped upon it; the sad dispersal of the village and its traditional way of life is more affecting.
A portentous debut, but this winner of the Commonwealth Best First Novel Award is proof of a literary talent with more to come.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-081725-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Perennial/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2006
Entertaining and unpredictable; Reid makes a compelling argument for happiness in every life.
Reid’s latest (After I Do, 2014, etc.) explores two parallel universes in which a young woman hopes to find her soul mate and change her life for the better.
After ending an affair with a married man, Hannah Martin is reunited with her high school sweetheart, Ethan, at a bar in Los Angeles. Should she go home with her friends and catch up with him later, or should they stay out and have another drink? It doesn’t seem like either decision would have earth-shattering consequences, but Reid has a knack for finding skeletons in unexpected closets. Two vastly different scenarios play out in alternating chapters: in one, Hannah and Ethan reconnect as if no time has passed; in the other, Hannah lands in the hospital alone after a freak accident that marks the first of many surprising plot twists. Hannah’s best friend, Gabby, believes in soul mates, and though Hannah has trouble making decisions—even when picking a snack from a vending machine—she and Gabby discover how their belief systems can alter their world as much as their choices. “Believing in fate is like living on cruise control,” Hannah says. What follows is a thoughtful analysis of free will versus fate in which Hannah finds that disasters can bring unexpected blessings, blessings can bring unexpected disasters, and that most people are willing to bring Hannah her favorite cinnamon rolls. “Because even when it looks like she’s made a terrible mistake,” Hannah’s mother observes, “things will always work out for Hannah.” The larger question becomes whether Hannah’s choices will ultimately affect her happiness—and it’s one that’s answered on a hopeful note as Hannah tries to do the right thing in every situation she faces.
Entertaining and unpredictable; Reid makes a compelling argument for happiness in every life.Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4767-7688-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Washington Square/Pocket
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Another heartwarming seasonal Macomber tale, which fans will find as bright and cozy as a blazing fire on Christmas Eve.
Friendly Julia Padden can’t stand her grumpy neighbor, Cain Maddox, but when her best friend goads her to kill him with kindness for the Christmas season, both their lives begin to change for the better—until he discovers she’s chronicling the experiment on a blog.
Julia’s life isn’t perfect, but she has a job at Macy’s that pays her bills while she’s looking for a marketing position. She also volunteers at her church and at the Boys and Girls Club, which helps her stay in the holiday mood even when she can’t get back to visit her family because of her hectic retail schedule. She tries hard to keep a positive attitude, so perhaps that’s why her neighbor across the hall in her apartment building is so vexing. He seems to go out of his way to be unpleasant. But when she’s complaining about the man, her best friend challenges her to be even kinder, in the true spirit of the season—and encourages her to use the experience as blog fodder, since Julia is in the running for a corporate social media position and her success depends on her ability to create a successful audience. So she begins, 12 days before Christmas, but as the days pass, she discovers that her kind acts have softened not only Cain’s demeanor, but her heart as well—and created a huge blog following. The two become friends, and Julia learns how painful Cain’s life has been and exactly why he keeps himself at arm’s length. Just when it looks like they’ll be hanging stockings together, Cain discovers Julia’s blog—which pushes every abandonment and trust button he has. Time is running out, but Julia knows that a job and a blog are nothing compared to the forever happiness just beyond their grasp, and making it right will be the best Christmas gift ever, if she can just figure out how.
Another heartwarming seasonal Macomber tale, which fans will find as bright and cozy as a blazing fire on Christmas Eve.Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-39173-2
Page Count: 266
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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