A subtle and vivid tale of finding peace in the great outdoors.
A young man overcomes grief as he backpacks one of North America’s most arduous trails in a novel that celebrates nature and companionship.
When Gil’s mother asks him to join his father’s old friend Syd and hike the John Muir Trail—220 miles across the top of the Sierra Nevada mountains—Gil is less than thrilled. His mother thinks that the hike will help Gil get his life back on track, but he thinks he’s doing just fine watching kung fu movies, casually hooking up with women, and drinking to excess. In addition, Gil doesn’t want to be responsible for Syd, who’s dying of leukemia; indeed, Gil is convinced that the older man won’t be able to complete the hike. However, Gil is curious to learn more about his father, who passed away a decade ago, so he goes on the trip, ready to cut it short if necessary. So begins a story of two men, bonded by loss, who undertake one of America’s most challenging and beautiful hikes. The more time they spend on the trail, the more they develop a companionable rhythm. Initially miserable, Gil slowly learns to appreciate the nature around him, the community of fellow backpackers, and Syd himself, who’s full of wisdom and tales of how the John Muir Trail came to be. In his debut novel, Gallogly deftly mixes a history of people who helped to preserve the American wilderness with a portrayal of backpacking culture, all while unraveling a realistic story of a young man caught in a cycle of grieving and loss. Although the text is didactic at times, the author shines in his descriptions of the natural world as well as in his methodical portrayal of Gil and Syd’s blossoming relationship. The transformative power of nature is a palpable force that drives the narrative, which is at its best when it focuses on how outdoor living can foster human connection.
A subtle and vivid tale of finding peace in the great outdoors.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7374192-2-8
Page Count: 356
Publisher: SIERRA NEVADA PRESS
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
This luxurious novel is set to take the world by storm.
The true story of Axis diplomats detained in the U.S. at the start of World War II is transformed into a dazzling historical novel set at a sumptuous West Virginia hotel.
Bestselling YA fantasy author Stiefvater’s adult debut introduces a writer whose prodigious imagination and distinctive prose style have combined to create a novel that will remind readers of why they fell in love with reading in the first place. At its center is the captivating June Hudson, an erstwhile Appalachian orphan who was taken in by the wealthy Gilfoyle family, owners of the Avallon Hotel & Spa, a high-society retreat built over underground mineral springs. At his death, the patriarch bequeathed ownership to his playboy son, Edgar, but made June the general manager, as she had spent her life learning the business—and also shared with Gilfoyle Sr. a rare gift relating to the “sweetwater” springs, a fantastical element of this otherwise realistic novel. Aside from the magical waters and a few other fanciful details, Stiefvater’s fictional world is based on extensive research into high-end hotels of the period, creating a version of luxury so appealing that readers will wish they could check into the Avallon and stay on indefinitely. In fact, the novel revolves around the true meaning of luxury. To June, it has nothing to do with wealth; it is more connected to joy, and to the book’s title: “June had long ago discovered that most people were bad listeners; they thought listening was synonymous with hearing. But the spoken was only half a conversation. True needs, wants, fears, and hopes hid not in the words that were said, but in the ones that weren’t, and all these formed the core of luxury.” Also brilliantly managed is the rest of the ensemble cast: sexy FBI agents; June’s inimitable staff; the delegations of Japanese, Germans, and Italians detained at the hotel, some quite nasty, but among them a strange, special, totally silent child. And on top of all this, a delicious love story!
This luxurious novel is set to take the world by storm.Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9780593655504
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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