A political farce that is both thoughtful and entertaining.
A Southern senator drives his state’s secession from the union and transformation into a sovereign Christian nation in Hooker’s satirical novel.
Pastor Gabriel Horne, head of the Jubilee Church of Revelation somewhere deep in the South, believes America is spiraling into decline, besotted by godlessness, communism, and the “slime and filth of disease, of Yankeedom.” He hears a voice assuring him that help is on the way—that help arrives in the form of Margaret Wurmser, a deep-pocketed real-estate mogul looking to develop beachfront property in his state. Blessed with her money, Horne pushes freshman Senator Loomis Gruber to secede from the union, declare his state an independent nation (“New Canaan”), and install himself as its first president. The new nation is a queasy mix of extremist, largely hateful principles, including Christian fundamentalism, antisemitism, and undisguised misogyny. (Altus Drech, New Canaan’s Minister of Homeland Security and Information, is an “unapologetic fascist” and admirer of Hitler.) At first, the new nation’s citizens receive their independence in a “rapturous mood,” but soon the populous begins to revolt, especially women angered by an edict issued by the Council of God affirming their inequality to men. In this farcically humorous tale, the creation of New Canaan quickly and predictably devolves into civil catastrophe, though that doesn’t stop it from inspiring other states to follow its dubious lead. While the narrative is ostentatiously ludicrous—the characters are all hilariously drawn comic stereotypes—the author achieves a menacing air of plausibility (secession and war have happened before, and states continue to threaten it, however disingenuously). The practical possibility of secession is beside the point, though—the novel vividly realizes a comic vision of the nation’s fragility as a result of its cultural fractures, divisions so deep a significant portion of the body politic holds another significant portion in implacable contempt. This is a genuinely funny book, filled with insightful commentary on America’s volatile present.
A political farce that is both thoughtful and entertaining.Pub Date: July 20, 2024
ISBN: 9781959620112
Page Count: 348
Publisher: Booklocker.com
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A moving, realistic look at one woman’s post-divorce family life that manages to be both poignant and funny.
A recently divorced writer juggles a chaotic full house, a struggling career, and a confusing romantic life.
Lila Kennedy thought she had the perfect family—a loving mother, a doting stepfather, two wonderful daughters, and a great husband. She even wrote a self-help book about repairing a marriage, which was published a mere two weeks before her husband left her. After her own mother’s sudden death, Lila finds herself an unexpected single mom with her health-nut stepfather, Bill, for a roommate. When her long-absent actor father, Gene, moves in, things go from crowded to chaotic. When Gene isn’t talking about his memories of starring on a Star Trek–like television show, he’s starting fights with Bill. Perhaps the worst part is that Lila’s supposed to produce a new book about the unexpected direction her life has taken. She quickly finds that writing about her real-life romantic exploits (including the kind gardener Bill hired and the sexy single dad she lusts after at school pick-up) and the actual heartbreak that upended her family is easier said than done. Moyes creates a world that is believable and funny. It’s hilarious to read about the distinct characters in Lila’s life—such as her lentil-loving stepfather and egocentric biological father—interacting with each other. There’s plenty of drama here, but none of it feels forced. It all comes from flawed people doing their best to coexist and making plenty of mistakes along the way. Moyes combines the warmth of an Annabel Monaghan rom-com with the humanity of a Catherine Newman novel, creating a story that will provoke tears and laughter.
A moving, realistic look at one woman’s post-divorce family life that manages to be both poignant and funny.Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781984879325
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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
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