A gorgeous novel that rejoices in the legacy of the woman who tells tales.
Shaherazade forges a path for herself against the turbulent, violent backdrop of the Third Crusade and the 12th-century Persian Empire in crisis.
Storytelling is at the heart of this debut novel, with Shaherazade spinning tales and writing verses for her loved ones to help make sense of their often mystifying world. It is poetry she turns to when she stumbles upon the reigning Malik’s beloved wife engaging in adultery. Shaherazade’s revelatory lines result in the woman’s execution and then the swift, brutal murders of the Malik's next three young brides. She is appalled that this man she grew up with has become unrecognizably evil: “Three thousand lives or three, to take even a single life unjustly is to murder all of mankind. Can a soul stained so dark be redeemed?” She atones by offering herself for the position of the Malik’s wife herself, and so begins her perilous journey into the lion’s den. Night after night, Shaherazade whispers stories of daring and magic to her dangerous husband, always promising more detail the next night, thus prolonging her own life for another day. Ahmed revives the ancient tales of One Thousand and One Nights through Shaherazade, who is able to harness her storytelling to effect political change. She spins webs to protect her loved ones and ensnare her enemies at once, drawing the reader ever closer as the boundary between her life and stories begins to blur. Constantly probing her faith and moral judgment, she is profoundly aware of the gray area between right and wrong and the unfathomable role of chance: “I once thought opportunities were ever arising, but now, older, I realize how thinly the door to destiny opens, how quickly it shuts.” Readers will love Shaherazade, who is acutely sensitive to nuance—social, political, and romantic—and refuses to lose her empathy. Ahmed flawlessly weaves together countless threads to create a stunning tapestry revealing the bonds that tie people together and the deceptions that tear them apart. “In fifty years, in a century, in a millennium, who will remember her life, let alone her death, all that preceded it and all that followed?” the narrator asks. Here, Ahmed gives us the voice echoing through eras, Shaherazade’s honeyed stories dripped onto the page.
A gorgeous novel that rejoices in the legacy of the woman who tells tales.Pub Date: July 18, 2023
ISBN: 9781250887078
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
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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