A surreal, sometimes-difficult narrative that will reward patient readers.
A university lawyer takes care of a monkey with humanlike tendencies in this debut novel.
Attorney Jim Drewry is in charge of monitoring a university study in which researchers are splicing human DNA with monkeys’ to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease. When a student involved in the study objects to the animals’ treatment, she opts to abandon it, and she leaves one of the genetically altered monkeys, named Eve, in Jim’s care. He’s initially reluctant to keep the animal, but then he begins to recognize what an extraordinary creature Eve is. She cries in a way that seems to convey emotional distress, a uniquely human expression, and her behavior makes Jim believe that she’s on some kind of “spiritual journey.” His son, Buck, and wife, Grace, take to Eve as well, treating her like an odd combination of pet and family member. As Jim interacts with the monkey, he also deals with the recent death of his son Thomas and goes on a troubling emotional quest. He begins to believe in alternate universes and questions whether it’s in humanity’s nature to seek spiritual knowledge. Although his preacher friend, Barry, attempts to help him, he seems overwhelmed by questions. During his moments of déjà vu, he worries that events are actually repeating themselves or that they’re occurring in other universes. (It doesn’t help that Jim is less-than-meticulous about taking his medication for mental problems.) It’s a lot for readers to take in, but Singer is a deft storyteller who engages with thorny religious and scientific questions while also crafting memorable characters. Some of Singer’s gambles don’t pay off completely—such as when he revisits past scenes in order to disorient readers or intersperses quasi-historical retellings of Jesus’ time on Earth—but their bravery is admirable, nonetheless. The disjointed narrative is likely to alienate some readers, especially near the end, when it’s increasingly difficult to know what’s actually happening and what’s a product of Jim’s imagination. Others, however, may enjoy Singer’s bold moves.
A surreal, sometimes-difficult narrative that will reward patient readers.Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-0692342435
Page Count: 218
Publisher: Cactus Jack Press
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
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
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
