An ambitious and multifaceted novel that cunningly challenges patriarchy and its consequences.
In Giordano’s debut historical novel, a young aristocrat is whisked away to her new husband’s Caribbean residence, where she discovers that all is not as it seems.
The novel opens in Somerset, England, in 1791. Eliza Hastings is the last unmarried daughter in her wealthy family, as she’s less interested in finding a potential mate than she is in spending time in the library. Her impatient parents arrange a function to which they invite numerous potential suitors, but rather than socialize, Eliza decides to pursue a beautiful moth through the garden. As she does so, she encounters a strange man with “wary green eyes”: Lord Charles Sharpe, a baron and lieutenant colonel of the British Legion. Soon after their first meeting, Sharpe requests Eliza’s hand in marriage, which she uncertainly accepts to get away from her family; they leave for his father’s house in the Bahamas shortly after the wedding ceremony, where Charles plans to put down roots. Even during their passage, something feels wrong. Charles is dismissive of Eliza, and they sleep in separate chambers (although the latter was not uncommon for the aristocracy of the period). Then, after their arrival at their destination, Charles forces himself upon her, finally revealing his violent, domineering character. Eliza is horrified by the presence of slavery on the plantation, and she finds herself a prisoner on the island. Her only pleasure, swimming, is forbidden by Charles, although she regularly disobeys him. Then Eliza’s life changes again when she meets an enigmatic, well-dressed gentleman named Jean Charles de Longchamp, who charms her with his knowledge of literature. In Jean, Eliza finds the possibility of new love and also, perhaps, an opportunity to break free.
This is a compelling series starter with a fascinatingly complex main character. Her driving ambition to escape her patriarchal society’s sexist expectations and experience the world on her own terms proves to be inspiring. Giordano communicates Eliza’s predicament with clarity and elegance: “He represented reason right now when she only wanted to chase after her hazy surroundings, comfortable in wantonness, and her newfound freedom.” Eliza and Charles’ heated conversations about slavery are particularly engaging, as when Eliza says, “I believe that men enjoy dominating others. Whether it is women or their fellow man. There is no moral justification for the trade, and there never shall be.” Charles, however, holds the vile assumptions of his time, gender, and class: “It is the natural order of things, my dear….Do not the strongest animals dominate the weaker ones?” In many respects, Eliza is a woman before her time: a 21st-century progressive feminist who refuses to tolerate Charles’ tiresome 18th-century condescension. This makes for thought-provoking reading; through Eliza’s perspective, readers witness the stark injustices and inequalities of colonial society with clarity. Meanwhile, Giordano produces formal yet amusing descriptive passages that may remind readers of Charlotte Brontë’s work: “An unimpressive corpulent man with red hair stepped forward, possessing ruddy flushed cheeks.” An ambitious and multifaceted novel that cunningly challenges patriarchy and its consequences.Pub Date: Dec. 13, 2022
ISBN: 9798986983400
Page Count: 536
Publisher: Käferhaus Press
Review Posted Online: May 12, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A boarding-school fantasia, with Hilderbrand’s signature upgrades to the cuisine and decor. Sign us up for next term.
A year in the life of the No. 2 boarding school in America—up from No. 19 last year!
Rumors of Hilderbrand’s retirement were greatly exaggerated, it turns out, since not only has she not gone out to pasture, she’s started over in high school, with her daughter Shelby Cunningham as co-author. As their delicious new book opens, it’s Move-In Day at Tiffin Academy, and Head of School Audre Robinson is warmly welcoming the returning and new students to the New England campus, the latter group including a rare midstream addition to the junior class. Brainiac Charley Hicks is transferring from public school in Maryland to a spot that opened up when one of the school’s most beloved students died by suicide the preceding year. She will be joining a large, diverse cast of adult and teenage characters—queen bees, jealous second-stringers, boozehounds young and old, secret lesbians, people chasing the wrong people chasing other wrong people—all of them royally screwed when an app called Zip Zap appears and starts blasting everyone’s secrets all over campus. How the heck…? Meanwhile, it seems so unlikely that Tiffin has jumped up to the No. 2 spot in the boarding-school rankings that a high-profile magazine launches an investigation, and even the head is worried that there may have been payola involved. The school has a reputation for being more social than academic, and this quality gets an exciting new exclamation point when the resident millionaire bad boy opens a high-style secret speakeasy for select juniors in a forgotten basement. It’s called Priorities. Exactly. One problem: Cinnamon Peters’ mysterious suicide hangs over the book in an odd way, especially since the note she left for her closest male friend is not to be opened for another year—and isn’t. This is surely a setup for a sequel, but it’s a bit frustrating here, and bobs sort of shallowly along amid the general high spirits.
A boarding-school fantasia, with Hilderbrand’s signature upgrades to the cuisine and decor. Sign us up for next term.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9780316567855
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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