Gilb’s prose sometimes requires a glossary of the nonbilingual (or -trilingual), as with sentences such as, “Los blacks...
It’s ten o’clock, mom’s in her chones, and all’s wrong with the world.
Mexican American novelist and essayist Gilb (Gritos, 2003, etc.) sets this novel, an understated exploration of race and its discontents, in a grimy border city in the recent past; the time is never spelled out and the cars and cholo clothes are timeless, but since “some cops pulled this loco black man over and he got whipped on, [and] it went out onto all the streets,” it’s safe to put it around 1994. As the reader soon sees, the mood is ugly. Sonny Bravo is a smart 15-year-old kid who wants to be good and has a hurting soul, but events are conspiring against him as surely as they conspire against Johnny Cade in The Outsiders—a kindred book in many ways. Sonny’s vivacious, semi-clad mother decides to improve her fortunes by marrying an Anglo building contractor, and off they go to an apartment complex called Las Flores, the flowers of the title. It’s no improvement; the mean streets get no less mean for Sonny, who now has black and white neighbors to contend with. His stepfather takes to drinking with a redneck construction worker named Bud, who lets no opportunity for stereotype or slur go unexplored, while mom endures. Sonny wanders between cultures, adding high-school French (“J’aime beaucoup les hamburgers”) to the mix, uncomfortable inside his own skin. It’s a recipe for a bruising, and it’s up to Sonny to keep that skin in one piece while steering clear of trouble and wishing for a world in which everyone would just get along.
Gilb’s prose sometimes requires a glossary of the nonbilingual (or -trilingual), as with sentences such as, “Los blacks aren’t shorty indios como nuestra gente,” and his narrative moves toward a resolution that, like the world, leaves all sorts of loose ends hanging.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-8021-1859-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Grove
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2007
Above-average formula fiction, making full display of the author’s strong suits: sense of place, compassion for characters...
Female rivalry is again the main preoccupation of Hannah’s latest Pacific Northwest sob saga (Firefly Lane, 2008, etc.).
At Water’s Edge, the family seat overlooking Hood Canal, Vivi Ann, youngest and prettiest of the Grey sisters and a champion horsewoman, has persuaded embittered patriarch Henry to turn the tumbledown ranch into a Western-style equestrian arena. Eldest sister Winona, a respected lawyer in the nearby village of Oyster Shores, hires taciturn ranch hand Dallas Raintree, a half-Native American. Middle sister Aurora, stay-at-home mother of twins, languishes in a dull marriage. Winona, overweight since adolescence, envies Vivi, whose looks get her everything she wants, especially men. Indeed, Winona’s childhood crush Luke recently proposed to Vivi. Despite Aurora’s urging (her principal role is as sisterly referee), Winona won’t tell Vivi she loves Luke. Yearning for Dallas, Vivi stands up Luke to fall into bed with the enigmatic, tattooed cowboy. Winona snitches to Luke: engagement off. Vivi marries Dallas over Henry’s objections. The love-match triumphs, and Dallas, though scarred by child abuse, is an exemplary father to son Noah. One Christmas Eve, the town floozy is raped and murdered. An eyewitness and forensic evidence incriminate Dallas. Winona refuses to represent him, consigning him to the inept services of a public defender. After a guilty verdict, he’s sentenced to life without parole. A decade later, Winona has reached an uneasy truce with Vivi, who’s still pining for Dallas. Noah is a sullen teen, Aurora a brittle but resigned divorcée. Noah learns about the Seattle Innocence Project. Could modern DNA testing methods exonerate Dallas? Will Aunt Winona redeem herself by reopening the case? The outcome, while predictable, is achieved with more suspense and less sentimental histrionics than usual for Hannah.
Above-average formula fiction, making full display of the author’s strong suits: sense of place, compassion for characters and understanding of family dynamics.Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-312-36410-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2008
There are unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story.
Passion, friendship, heartbreak, and forgiveness ring true in Lovering's debut, the tale of a young woman's obsession with a man who's "good at being charming."
Long Island native Lucy Albright, starts her freshman year at Baird College in Southern California, intending to study English and journalism and become a travel writer. Stephen DeMarco, an upperclassman, is a political science major who plans to become a lawyer. Soon after they meet, Lucy tells Stephen an intensely personal story about the Unforgivable Thing, a betrayal that turned Lucy against her mother. Stephen pretends to listen to Lucy's painful disclosure, but all his thoughts are about her exposed black bra strap and her nipples pressing against her thin cotton T-shirt. It doesn't take Lucy long to realize Stephen's a "manipulative jerk" and she is "beyond pathetic" in her desire for him, but their lives are now intertwined. Their story takes seven years to unfold, but it's a fast-paced ride through hookups, breakups, and infidelities fueled by alcohol and cocaine and with oodles of sizzling sexual tension. "Lucy was an itch, a song stuck in your head or a movie you need to rewatch or a food you suddenly crave," Stephen says in one of his point-of-view chapters, which alternate with Lucy's. The ending is perfect, as Lucy figures out the dark secret Stephen has kept hidden and learns the difference between lustful addiction and mature love.
There are unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story.Pub Date: June 12, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6964-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
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