Gives life to an era and outlines what life in America was like for boatloads of poor immigrants and their families.
Suchanek’s debut novel about the lives of three orphans who live through the influenza epidemic, World War I and the Roaring ’20s in America.
In her first days in America, little Berta DeLuca faces tragedy. She arrives in New York City to learn that her father has died in a coal-mining explosion. Her mother, the timid Rosa, leaves Berta at an orphanage until she can find a job and the money to bring her home. Sadly, Rosa meets a drunken baker turned gangster, whom she marries against his family’s wishes. His spurts of anger and violence ruin Rosa and threaten to break Berta’s spirit. But this astute and resourceful girl finds friends in fellow orphans Chevonne and Patrick. Their companionship saves both her body and soul from the cruelty of the times. The novel tries to cover too much: orphanages, the Underground Railroad, speak-easies. As a result, the narrative sometimes feels overstuffed with characters that make brief appearances. The drama of Berta’s gangster stepfather and his drug-abusing partner in crime feels unrealistic. Yet there’s a charm to the orphaned characters’ Pollyanna-meets-A Little Princess plotline. They may all find their happy ending with a glamorous and rich family that ensures their lives will be charmed beyond their wildest imaginations. Perhaps that is the American dream, but it feels a little shallow in this treatment. Regardless, Suchanek is a talented writer whose story moves the reader with its emotion, attention to detail and vivid descriptions.
Gives life to an era and outlines what life in America was like for boatloads of poor immigrants and their families.Pub Date: June 29, 2012
ISBN: 978-1457512636
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An impressively thoughtful expression of spirituality.
Two men discover God on two different paths in Malby’s curiously titled first novel.
In some unspecified part of Middle America, two boys bond as toddlers in their rural hometown during an era in the 20th century when outhouses were the norm and child mortality rates were high. The boys grow apart and reconnect during manhood, finishing their long lives together. As youths, they become alienated by Windknocker, another name for God, which is further explained about halfway into the novel. Yet the titular Windknocker ultimately unites them and gives purpose to their lives. To cover the decades of their friendship, the narrative zips along like a skipped rock over water, pausing only to focus on key events in the characters’ lives. Often, these moments are what the two men look back to later in life as they attempt to resolve their differences regarding the meaning and practice of faith. Mew, the main character, takes the formal route through the Catholic priesthood during the tumult of Vatican II. His best friend, Leezie, lives in an informal street ministry as a laborer and soldier in World War II. As boys and men, they live on opposite sides of the tracks—literally at first, and figuratively later, with personalities as different as their origins, lifestyles and faith. Mew’s faith is intellectual (“religion wasn’t about experience but working toward perfection”); whereas Leezie’s faith is intuitive, particularly after he’s “borned again” during a revival meeting. Malby tells their story in memoir format through Mew’s voice, diverting occasionally into an omniscient observer—sometimes transitioning like an emcee—to cover episodes in Leezie’s life. The switches in point of view aren’t disruptive, although they give the narrative an uneven flow. Malby’s straightforward prose contains short, evocative descriptions—“I was sure her eyes sparkled even when she was asleep”—which will comfortably take readers into intimate discussions of faith that are thought-provoking independent of religious perspective.
An impressively thoughtful expression of spirituality.Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2010
ISBN: 978-1608622320
Page Count: 306
Publisher: E-Book Time, LLC
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Sturdy, exuberant verse.
Like the demigod from which it takes its name, Defining Atlas is a durable, uplifting volume.
A strong current of self-affirmation, self-love, and self-confidence runs through this work, and readers will come away feeling their spirits improved. We feel some of this current in the clever “Limited”; Michaels takes the titular subject and turns it on its head: “I’m new, but I’m old / Not limited beyond my means and methods / But limited because I’m special / Special beyond the heavens and everything that surrounds me / That I’m among…limited.” Elsewhere in “From the ashes…I am,” he sings a hard-won song of renewal and rebirth: “I am victory in its rawest form / I am hope that never conform / I am the will, the drive, and the truth / I am like everyone, like you.” But Michaels does not hoard specialness or victory for himself; he wants it for his reader too, and in “Wake Up!” he urges us on toward a bright future: “There’s something good here for you / Your purpose can never be defined by just one blue / Your destiny awaits you.” Underpinning Michaels’ stirring message is a strong faith in God, whose presence infuses many of the poems here: “But I always thank God for the latter / For the strength and will it takes / Shines so bright / Shines so right.” Michaels often adopts a loose scheme of rhyming couplets, and this decision leads to one of the book’s few weaknesses. Too often, the poet picks awkward or odd pairings; e.g., “And if I could become a perfect saint / I would make believers out of the ones who say they ain’t” and the “you/blue” couplet mentioned above. But such missteps are infrequent, and they don’t dim the warm light that emanates from Michaels’ fine volume.
Sturdy, exuberant verse.Pub Date: March 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5035-4785-8
Page Count: 106
Publisher: Xlibris
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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