An often enchanting novel that offers a fresh take on a love triangle.
Moyer’s debut historical novel details one woman’s journey to find herself and the love she discovers along the way.
The year is 1910, and 19-year-old Catherine Ogden lives in luxury with her wealthy aunt and uncle in New York City. However, she still harbors deep sadness over her father’s death 11 years before as well as her mother’s disappearance shortly thereafter. Dashing William Brandt, the 30-year-old heir of a California railroad magnate, has recently arrived in town, and Manhattan’s high society is in a tizzy as a result—and before long, Catherine catches his eye. As William courts her, she also befriends her family’s head gardener, a young man named Thomas O’Shea. Catherine and Thomas quickly bond over their mutual love of beautiful flora, and their friendship deepens. Then Catherine and William become engaged despite her honest declaration to her fiance: “I don’t love you. Yet.” As the days leading up to the wedding fly by, Catherine’s tenuous grasp on her future—and her desires—begins to slip. She begins an arduous journey to track down her mother, who may be the one person who could help her make sense of her feelings. The conflict that Catherine feels between doing her duty and doing what her heart wants burns brightly at the center of this novel, which also tackles relevant issues regarding gender roles and consent. The prose and dialogue flow naturally, with the author spinning phrases that beautifully capture the passion of youth and love: “They had become something electric, friendship turned into fire.” Catherine’s predicament and decisions manage to consistently avoid cliché, which keeps the work from becoming predictable. This ultimately results in a moving story with strong female characters and twists that will satisfy readers who enjoy well-researched history alongside their romantic narratives.
An often enchanting novel that offers a fresh take on a love triangle.Pub Date: May 9, 2023
ISBN: 9781647424268
Page Count: 376
Publisher: She Writes Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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