Australian Grenville triumphantly returns to the setting of her memorable debut novel (Lillian's Story, 1986) to trace the development of Lillian's father—a turn-of-the-century bourgeois whose public arrogance and private terrors wreak havoc on those he should have loved. ``This is Albion Gidley Singer at the pen,'' Grenville's protagonist announces at the outset of his story, ``a man with a weakness for a good fact.'' Facts are indeed Singer's obsession, having proved invaluable in shielding him from his own unacceptable emotions: early yearnings to join his devoted mother's mysterious, silky world; the terror he felt from his distant, disapproving father; the confused encounters with the raunchy prostitutes and ``proper'' young women who populate his upper-middle-class bachelor's existence. Initially a tongue-tied social outcast, Singer uses his intellect to learn to navigate the world of human sociability: painstakingly recreating the facial tics that indicate emotion; relying on the Darwinian theory of natural selection in choosing a wife; and immersing himself in the careful, scientific management of his inherited stationery company. His success entitles him, in his own opinion, to scatter his seed among a bevy of prostitutes, regularly rape his wife until she has borne him an heir, constantly criticize his bright and rebellious daughter, and berate his disappointing son. Despite these satisfactions, by middle age the strictly disciplined existence of the successful paterfamilias has left Albion secretly bereft, feeling like ``a man in the act of turning into air.'' His true self finally emerges in the violent betrayal of his young daughter, Lillian—after which Albion Gidley Singer embraces, almost with relief, the loveless, solitary existence he always suspected he deserved. A masterful, sharp-tongued portrait of an individual and an age. Grenville's fiction is impossible to put down. (Author tour)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-15-100122-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1994
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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