A journalist’s carefully plotted story shines in its depiction of Italian culture.
A man’s return to his childhood home in Italy connects him to the controversial attempts to restore an old church.
The new novel from Costanzo (Graphic Times, 2008) first follows Carlo Strazzi, a teacher in the fictional mountain town of Roccamonti in the province of Calabria, Italy, where life centers on family ties and the crumbling church of Santa Prisca. Carlo’s brother, his brother’s wife and their son are leaving for America when old disputes come tumbling to the fore, involving the first and second restoration attempts of the church. Later, Stefano Strazzi returns to his home of Roccamonti to visit his uncle, Carlo, and becomes a benefactor of the third attempt to restore the church. Roccamonti and the slow pace of life along Via della Scala renews Stefano, and he finds he is prolonging his stay, much to the anger of his wife, who is waiting for him to join her. Stefano learns of the debate surrounding the previous restoration attempts and the anger Carlo feels toward the whole charade. As Stefano becomes reacquainted with the town of his childhood, he also becomes intertwined in the drama that continues his uncle’s bloodlust for revenge. Constanzo only reveals the intricacies of the plot at the very end of the novel, a tell-tale sign of the author’s affinity for mystery writing. The foundation of the story is laid out well, with a journalist’s attention to facts, but also working poetry and the Italian language into writing that is otherwise unemotional. While Costanzo grounds the story in the telling of Strazzi family history, the characters of the town of Roccamonti and the mystifying back story, the climax comes late with the resolution feeling rushed and confused. Despite the shaky ending, Costanzo’s second novel is bolstered by his intimate knowledge of life in an Italian village.
A journalist’s carefully plotted story shines in its depiction of Italian culture.Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-936185313
Page Count: 372
Publisher: Charles River
Review Posted Online: Nov. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
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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