Whitfield’s second novel (after Beeperless Remote, 1996), a romantic comedy set in the social swarm of contemporary weight-loss culture, is just about as thin as the characters wish their stomachs were. Sonny Walker, thirtysomething, has been gaining weight. In fact, so much weight that beautiful Marsha dumps him just as he’s reaching for another piece of cheesecake. After the breakup, he goes on to gain some more, but then when he’s asked to model as a tent at work (a sporting-goods store), Sonny decides some serious weight loss is in order. Signing up with FutraSystem, he quickly gets acquainted there with a shady counselor who realizes that “A hefty guy like you ain’t gonna make it on that little bit of food they give you.” For a little extra cash, therefore, Sonny can get as much Futra food as he can pack away. But, more important, at that first meeting he encounters Kayla (smart, sassy, and independent). There’s only one problem: she’s too fat. Nevertheless, they strike up a friendship—the kind that’s supposed to offer support if they ever feel the urge to, uh, cheat on their diets. (They cheat, anyway.) Though Sonny feels guilty about his failures to meet the challenge, Kayla is comfy with her own body: she’s always been overweight, deriving her self-image from who she is, as opposed to what she looks like. The two build a tender relationship (despite their aversion to dating anybody on the obese side) as Sonny sticks anew to the goals of his diet and exercise regime and Kayla remains happily the way she’s always been. For her second outing, Whitfield has built a compelling portrait of young African-Americans in D.C., with humor that’s sometimes laugh-out-loud (does an extra-big man really need extra-big condoms?), but there’s no emotional resonance also built in, anything that might make a reader cheer on Sonny and Kayla’s battle against the bulge—and their thick-thighed romance. Amusing, but little else.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-385-48935-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
To her usual mix of love, mystery, and passion, Roberts (Sanctuary, 1997, etc.)—author of 115 romancers in some 17 years—adds Renaissance art and a decidedly Medici-like family: the Joneses of Maine. Dr. Miranda Jones, nearly six feet with flaming red hair and a glacial reserve, is an archeometrist who specializes in the analyzing and dating of Renaissance bronze sculpture. Miranda hopes to secure a world-class reputation for herself by authenticating a 15th-century statue of the Dark Lady, one of the mistresses of Lorenzo the Magnificent, as the undiscovered work of a young Michelangelo. Miranda's mother, Dr. Elizabeth Standford-Jones, the emotionally remote director of the Standjo art lab in Florence, has summoned her daughter from the family's Victorian cliffside home in Jones Point, Maine, to test the statue. Meanwhile, Miranda's father, equally remote, is an archaeologist who spends more time at his digs than at home. In fact, no one in the Jones family has made a successful run at marriage, a failure that Miranda and her alcoholic brother Andrew call the Jones curse. As for the statue, when it's discovered to be a fake, Miranda sets out to prove that someone stole the original. In this she's helped by gorgeous art thief Ryan Boldari (half-Italian, half-Irish), who's come to Jones Point to steal yet another bronze, which also turns out to be a forgery. Ryan's plan had been to use Miranda as a pawn, but now, naturally, he finds himself falling hard for her. While the two search for bronzes, a standard-issue romance-novel psychotic is stalking them. Most readers will twig to the killer's identity: Here, as always, Roberts's sexual tension is more compelling than her suspense. Perhaps it's time to take a sabbatical from the pink sweatshop and turn her considerable wit and narrative skills to a more original piece of work.
Pub Date: March 23, 1998
ISBN: 0-399-14387-4
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1998
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