bookshelf

In the Year of the Rabbit

Name: In the Year of the Rabbit
Author: Terence A. Harkin

by Terence A. Harkin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2021

A meandering, cerebral work about a man clawing his way out of darkness.

bookshelf

A combat photographer seeks respite from his grief in Harkins’ novel of the Vietnam War, a sequel to The Big Buddha Bicycle Race (2018).

In 1972, U.S. Air Force cameraman Brendan Leary is in a military hospital in Thailand, recovering from injuries sustained in a deadly attack. Among the dead is Tukada, a Thai woman whom Leary loved. After he’s discharged, he’s depressed and haunted by strange visions: “It’s just a bunch of flashes—gunfire, the thumping of chopper blades, Tukada’s death rattle.” He tries to distract himself by teaching English, playing in a garage band, and exploring meditation with the help of a Buddhist monk.It isn’t long before he’s sent back up in the air, however. He experiences another brush with death when his gunship is downed over enemy territory, and he and a friend are the only ones to make it out alive. After a long ordeal involving capture by the North Vietnamese Army, Leary makes it to safety. But as he reaches the end of his rope, Buddhism and perhaps the love of a new woman may be the only things that can save him. Harkins’ prose is muscular and immersive, detailing Leary’s war experience with surprising imagery: “The engine exploded again and, like the tongue of a hungry dog, flames began lapping at the gash in the wing…suddenly we skidded sideways like an airborne hockey puck.” The novel marks an atypical entry in the annals of Vietnam War literature, as Leary isn’t a soldier, per se and isn’t stationed in Vietnam. It’s also a difficult book to enter cold, as it starts right where the previous novel left off, with little explanation, and some 16 different characters are introduced or referenced in the first four pages. Like many characters on spiritual quests, Leary can come off as a bit annoying at times, quoting Khalil Gibran and going on for way too long about his band. Overall, the narrative is slim and slow, and as a result, its readership may be narrowed to those who underwent similar disillusionment during the Vietnam era.

A meandering, cerebral work about a man clawing his way out of darkness.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2021

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

LITERARY FICTION | GENERAL FICTION

bookshelf

BETWEEN SISTERS

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2003

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...

bookshelf

Sisters in and out of love.

Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.

Pub Date: May 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-345-45073-6

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WOMEN
by Kristin Hannah

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FOUR WINDS
by Kristin Hannah

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREAT ALONE
by Kristin Hannah

bookshelf

THE CORRESPONDENT

by Virginia Evans ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 6, 2025

An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.

bookshelf

A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.

Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.

An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.