Give Reuss points for audacity. Not many writers would attempt a novel about a six-year-old boy gifted with a photographic memory, living in tawdry modern-day Atlantic City, and obsessed by the ancient sect of Gnostics. Even fewer could come so close to pulling off a novel that captures perfectly the dreams, fears, and painful confusion of a child alternately abandoned, or manipulated, by those around him and that, simultaneously, manages to be a serious—even somewhat daunting—exploration of faith and identity. Henry’s father, as the story opens, is the head of security at a casino. He’s powerful, charming, and distant. Henry, lonely and possibly a genius, is introduced to the Gnostics by a bright, mysterious blackjack dealer; having learned to read very early, Henry quickly absorbs the cryptic sayings of that extinct religious sect. Meanwhile, his father disappears, leaving him with some uncongenial guardians, where he comes into contact first with a Catholic priest, both baffled and intrigued by Henry’s habit of spouting Gnostic scripture. Henry runs away, is briefly reunited with his father (who, it turns out, has bilked the casino of several million and is on the run), and then ends up in a Catholic orphanage. Reuss (the equally idiosyncratic Horace Afoot, 1997) is a master at making the odd not only believable but also compelling. Gradually, Henry’s strange state, which mingles esoteric knowledge with the innocence of a young child confounded by life, becomes deeply affecting as well. Often as gripping are the theological arguments that thread throughout here, and Henry’s precocious struggle to reason out how one is meant to live in a world as violent, surprising, and various as this one. At times the theology comes close to capsizing the plot, and an attempt by a psychiatrist to explain the origins of Henry’s unique state is unpersuasive. Nonetheless, this ambitious fiction—blending a child’s search for love and certainty with a restless examination of the nature of faith—is often profoundly moving. It is also further evidence that Reuss is one of our most unpredictable and original novelists.
Pub Date: Aug. 31, 1999
ISBN: 1-878448-89-7
Page Count: 250
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
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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