Wilson has a knack for raffish characterization but little desire for structure; stuffing two decades of life on the fringe...
From Wilson (Loose Jam, 1990, not reviewed), a story of life and love on the road that has a few surprises and some enjoyable moments.
Raphael (formerly known as Eddie) once had a love affair with someone he never forgot: Bella Kipper, a beleaguered single mother of two little girls. Raphael is a minor poet with major pretensions, and Bella’s no prize for a womanizer like him, what with her frizzy black hair, hawklike nose, and world-weary air. But all the same, Raphael worships the ground her chapped heels walk on—even though Bella twits Raphael mercilessly about his literary ambitions—and the two begin a brief, stormy affair. Living in a coastal California town with little to do but wait tables, daydream, and whiff the mingled smells of kelp and patchouli, the lovers fight—and part company. Starting at the historical moment when being stoned was still a statement and the Doobie Brothers were the happening band, Raphael begins a desultory journey of sorts, criss-crossing the country and occasionally hearing news of Bella, who seems to be always one step ahead of him. Her daughters Darshon and Sage grow up more or less on the road, suffering through their mother’s hegira somehow and providing much-needed comic relief with obligatory teenager snottiness. As Eddie (who takes back his more prosaic original name) travels to and through New Orleans, Texas, Boston, and innumerable other places, he meets up with assorted seedy characters, none of whom has anything to teach him that he doesn’t already know. In due time, he hooks up with Bella again, and it’s as if they’d just met: Eddie is still inexplicably awestruck by the self-absorbed Bella.
Wilson has a knack for raffish characterization but little desire for structure; stuffing two decades of life on the fringe into 300 pages is no small feat, but a plot would’ve been nice.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2001
ISBN: 1-56512-297-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000
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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