Engaging tales show unassuming people facing unavoidable plights.
Characters struggle in their everyday lives in Bobb’s debut collection of eight short stories.
In the novella-length “Agnes and Tommy,” Agnes barely makes ends meet while working two jobs and caring for her sickly son. But it’s her country club waitressing gig that triggers the most stress thanks to ever hounding bartender Victor. One day she finally tells off Victor, with unforeseen consequences. One of those happens to be Tommy, the charismatic new bartender who may prod a reticent Agnes into bettering her life. Other tales showcase similar people, who are alone by choice or circumstance. Carrie, in “By the Rivers of Babylon, There She Wept,” is a writer in need of inspiration for her second novel. But as she wanders a village’s main street, locals practically ostracize the out-of-towner, as she’s “perhaps a bit bizarre.” Seemingly ordinary folk, up against familiar dilemmas or hardships, populate this collection. There’s a man who’s just lost his beloved mother, Martha, and an on-again, off-again couple who, despite endless bickering, show obvious affection and even talk of marriage. The tales in this book, even with their share of bullies and discontents, are typically buoyant. In “Deus ex Machina,” a library assigns “unofficial archivist” Henry the task of recording a theater company’s history. While there’s a wealth of “dirt,” from conspiracies to character assassinations and back-stabbings, Henry laments that his assignment demands he forgo all of that for standard promotional fare. Bobb writes in a sharp, lyrical prose style: “The ladies descended exuberantly down the slope while a balmy sea breeze caressed their wizened faces like a precious ointment, a briny myrrh.” The drawback is that the voice is so strong that it renders the cast’s assorted narrations and dialogue indistinguishable across the eight stories. The distinctions exist instead among the absorbing individual plots and their sometimes unexpected outcomes.
Engaging tales show unassuming people facing unavoidable plights.Pub Date: April 24, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-578-28545-0
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 9, 2022
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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