An enjoyable betrothal tale in a vivid historical setting.
In this historical novel, an Italian girl navigates her engagement to a mysterious man in 1490s Venice.
Caterina never really knew her mother, so she is used to a life ruled by her father, Ludovico, and her nurse, Nonna. She is betrothed to Ariosto, a cruel man who is many years her senior. When Ariosto is lost at sea, Ludovico seeks new suitors for Caterina. Meanwhile, Rade, a Slavic man more accustomed to violence than finery, wins a letter written by Ludovico about finding a suitor in a card game. Rade makes his way to Venice, believing he is fated to be with Caterina. He employs a man to make a skinlike mask for him to wear to hide his scarred face. But once Ludovico agrees to Rade’s lengthy betrothal to Caterina, he finds he must wear the mask all the time. He is enamored with Caterina, though he has a rival: the dashing Alessandro, a young man with whom she is falling in love. The competition heats up between the two men, with Rade’s jealousy potentially pushing Caterina away. Later, Rade finds himself dealing with the execution of a friend and his discovery of Caterina and Alessandro alone together. Grant’s prose is excellent—it is evident throughout the engrossing story that she has a sharp style and knows how to skillfully set a scene, toeing a fine line between descriptive and overwrought: “Finally, as suddenly as it had come, the shoal turned and faded away into the limitless gray of the horizon….Fortune is a woman, thought Rade. Would that it were so.” The author’s characters are similarly well defined. Through Rade, readers see a life hardened by violence and the fear of rejection, which necessitates wearing a mask. Additionally, Rade’s deepening affection for Caterina is especially engaging. As for the other characters, Grant effectively balances her cast with intriguing minor players, including Rade’s sensual “teacher,” Rosa, and his former second-in-command, Vuk. But there are some moments that feel superfluous or that cause the tale to drag a bit. Though the betrothal is meant to be long, it sometimes seems as if Rade and Caterina spend a lot of time apart. The story would have benefited from more scenes with the two protagonists.
An enjoyable betrothal tale in a vivid historical setting.Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2022
ISBN: 9798986936208
Page Count: 396
Publisher: Cartellino Publications LLC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 23, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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