A skillful second novel from Corrigan (Tommy Was Here, 1993) that pokes at the seedy underside of Continental glamour. Daniel Marriner dropped out of Cambridge three years ago and moved to France, much to his parents' dismay as well as his sister Rachel's, who thus became the sole recipient of the domineering Mr. and Mrs. Marriner's unwanted critical attention. Now, back in England, Daniel's three years abroad are shrouded in mystery. At first, Daniel seems perfectly content living with the now-married Rachel and her family, holding a menial job in a hotel restaurant, and talking through the nights with Rachel about their unhappy childhood with cold, unloving parents. He is reticent about his time away, but willing to humor Rachel's romanticization of it. Still, throughout this oddly placid time there are signs of an impending disaster, proving that Daniel's past is not so easily forgotten: a strange car parked in front of Rachel's home, a man taking pictures of the house, the appearance of Daniel's unnaturally handsome French friend, Luc. With Luc's arrival, Daniel's precarious peace is first threatened and then shattered when Rachel's eldest child, Guy, disappears along with Daniel's watch. Daniel finally realizes that he can elude France no more than he can his childhood, and that perhaps he doesn't even want to. In order to insure Guy's safe return, Daniel trades his freedom for the boy's and at the same time acknowledges that his own freedom was never more than illusory. Neither the characters nor the mystery of Daniel's past is entirely fleshed out, but Corrigan's successful evocation of doom, along with his building of suspense, makes for an eerie and strangely satisfying read.
Pub Date: March 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-233-98894-7
Page Count: 180
Publisher: Andre Deutsch/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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