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ONE-WAY TICKET

STORIES

A collection of eight long stories that their Russian-born author describes (in a thoughtful Afterword) as ``a kind of travelogue'' tracing the troubled peregrinations of a ``minor samizdat author'' for whom exile comprises a rueful adult education. Zinik (The Mushroom Picker, 1989) is, for all practical purposes, identical with the stories' protagonist, Zinovy, whom we encounter in various European and North African locations as well as in London, the place to which he seems most inclined to keep returning. He encounters other ÇmigrÇs who make unwelcome political and personal claims on him (in ``Mea Culpa,'' ``An Uninvited Guest,'' and ``A Chance Encounter,'' for example), or new acquaintances whose response to his outwardly romantic outsider's status (``my Russian past and dual British-Israeli citizenship'') takes frustratingly unpredictable forms—for example, in the loosely knit ``Cricket,'' in which Zinovy is befriended by a British book editor, insulted by a drunken xenophobic snob, and taken in tow by a disturbed woman whose appropriation of him is motivated by her own outcast state. Too many of these stories feel like unimaginative transcriptions of personal experience; they're journalistic in tone and texture, failing to develop satisfyingly beyond their premises. Two, however, stand out: ``A Ticket to Spare,'' in which Zinovy attends a Duke Ellington concert at Kiev Stadium and experiences thereafter a sobering corrective to his enjoyment of the ``freedom'' latent in the great jazzman's performance; and—much the best story in the book—``The Face of the Age,'' a complex reminiscence of Zinovy's childhood in Russia, shaped by a Jewish family's uncertain security under the cloak of Soviet solidarity and shadowed by intimations of his elders' political recklessness and subsequent vulnerability. But, on balance, these ruminative and muted stories, only occasionally involving, seem too internalized to fully communicate their weight of emotion and reach through to the reader.

Pub Date: Nov. 27, 1996

ISBN: 0-8112-1341-2

Page Count: 192

Publisher: New Directions

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1996

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MAGIC HOUR

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.

Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Pub Date: March 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-345-46752-3

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005

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FIREFLY LANE

Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of...

Lifelong, conflicted friendship of two women is the premise of Hannah’s maudlin latest (Magic Hour, 2006, etc.), again set in Washington State.

Tallulah “Tully” Hart, father unknown, is the daughter of a hippie, Cloud, who makes only intermittent appearances in her life. Tully takes refuge with the family of her “best friend forever,” Kate Mularkey, who compares herself unfavorably with Tully, in regards to looks and charisma. In college, “TullyandKate” pledge the same sorority and major in communications. Tully has a life goal for them both: They will become network TV anchorwomen. Tully lands an internship at KCPO-TV in Seattle and finagles a producing job for Kate. Kate no longer wishes to follow Tully into broadcasting and is more drawn to fiction writing, but she hesitates to tell her overbearing friend. Meanwhile a love triangle blooms at KCPO: Hard-bitten, irresistibly handsome, former war correspondent Johnny is clearly smitten with Tully. Expecting rejection, Kate keeps her infatuation with Johnny secret. When Tully lands a reporting job with a Today-like show, her career shifts into hyperdrive. Johnny and Kate had started an affair once Tully moved to Manhattan, and when Kate gets pregnant with daughter Marah, they marry. Kate is content as a stay-at-home mom, but frets about being Johnny’s second choice and about her unrealized writing ambitions. Tully becomes Seattle’s answer to Oprah. She hires Johnny, which spells riches for him and Kate. But Kate’s buttons are fully depressed by pitched battles over slutwear and curfews with teenaged Marah, who idolizes her godmother Tully. In an improbable twist, Tully invites Kate and Marah to resolve their differences on her show, only to blindside Kate by accusing her, on live TV, of overprotecting Marah. The BFFs are sundered. Tully’s latest attempt to salvage Cloud fails: The incorrigible, now geriatric hippie absconds once more. Just as Kate develops a spine, she’s given some devastating news. Will the friends reconcile before it’s too late?

Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of poignancy.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008

ISBN: 978-0-312-36408-3

Page Count: 496

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2007

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