A heartwarming slice-of-life tale for readers who enjoy romance and optimistic stories about idealistic communities in...
A debut novel depicts the intertwined narratives of folks brought together by the lure of living in a beautiful old schoolhouse in a tiny Iowa town.
Andrea Hogan, a 58-year-old divorced mother, relocates to the town of Bentley, population 284, for a position at BGM High School teaching ninth-grade English. Retiring from her long career at the Legislative Service Bureau, she decides to finally pursue her dream of teaching. Trish Wilkins, a woman she befriended in college, connects her with the job, as she is also taking a position at BGM. The women each move into separate 600-square-foot, one-bedroom apartments at The Bentley School House, which has been restored and repurposed with the utmost care for historic detail. The building’s owner, Scott “Coach” Samuels, hopes to develop its multipurpose basement into a community center, as “ever since the grocery store closed, there just hasn’t been a decent place for folks to gather.” Andrea quickly learns that one of her new neighbors is the head of the BGM English Department, Richard Daniel Knight, a man she was romantically involved with for a short time in college. Recently divorced, Richard is a transplant from Mons, Belgium, and harbors a deep love of theater. He is overjoyed to reconnect with Andrea, and romantic tension builds between them throughout the story. When a giant tree falls on BGM and crushes the roof of the auditorium, Richard volunteers the cafeteria of The Bentley Schoolhouse to host the fall play. Soon, the tenants, including Oscar and Verna Lee Swenson, an elderly couple who decided to vacate their big farmhouse, rally together to help produce the play. As the engrossing narrative unfolds and the tenants of The Bentley Schoolhouse create community projects using their shared space, their relationships grow and interweave. Major themes explored by Hughes include new beginnings late in life, the benefits of downsizing, the importance of community, and the way like-minded people congregate to create their ideal vision of humanity. The novel is heartening, sometimes too much so, as there is often an absence of conflict to propel the plot. But, as the rekindling of romance between Richard and Andrea progresses, their interactions drive the narrative enough to keep readers engaged and happily turning pages.
A heartwarming slice-of-life tale for readers who enjoy romance and optimistic stories about idealistic communities in America’s heartland.Pub Date: May 24, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5127-3924-4
Page Count: 276
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
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