A formidable work that resists narrative orthodoxy.
The lives of ordinary Britons intertwine and evolve in this impressionistic literary novel.
Dreamlike shifts in perspective dominate this new work by Worthington, the author of Stained Glass Lives (2020). Doris Gambol secures a job at the library in Shrewsbury, England, after her husband leaves her. One day, a man collapses from insomnia at her branch; the chief librarian, Colleen Collect, calms him by reading from a book.As Colleen reads, he falls asleep, as the author poetically describes: “letters, words and sounds make a run for his coat and under his collar….Then a hissing sound envelops the three of them, a low fluting hiss, the gentle but certain beats of a Z.” After Doris leaves work, Colleen takes up the role of protagonist; on her way home, she visits her husband’s grave, then prepares for her friend, Andy, a grocery store employee, to drop by her house; when he does, the story moves to his perspective. In the same way one’s brain makes sense out of random events, the novel provides crucial bits of information here and there to orient readers. However, it still leaves readers to puzzle out the relationships between the characters, and it’s a tactic that can prove disconcerting, especially because Worthington employs heavy repetition; for example, when Doris drinks, the following passage is repeated, nearly verbatim, several times throughout the novel: “They make her drink. Guzzle until her stomach is a well, so full it begins to pour over the top and trickle down Utkinton Street, a red rivulet, an S shape all the way to the corner shop and back….” These are rich lines, so much like prose poetry. That said, they will likely bewilder some readers; there are no signposts as to why these sentences bear repeating nearly word for word. As a novel meant for the enjoyment of its language and structure, this work succeeds, but its pyrotechnics overshadow the story and obscure understanding.
A formidable work that resists narrative orthodoxy.Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-244-23614-4
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Lulu.com
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet bedtime story.
A boy and his stuffed bear head into the woods.
Having captured readers’ attention with Born a Crime (2016), his bestselling memoir of growing up in South Africa, comedian and television host Noah has written a parable about decision-making. As he puts it in a brief prologue, “It’s about disagreements and difference—but it’s also about how we bridge those gaps and find what matters most, whether we’re parents or kids, neighbors, gnomes, or political adversaries. It’s a picture book, but it’s not a children’s book. Rather, it is a book for kids to share with parents and for parents to share with kids.” With plentiful illustrations by Hahn and in language aimed at young listeners, it tells the story of a small boy so impatient to start his Saturday adventures that he rebels against the rules of his household and heads out without brushing his teeth or making his bed, despite the reminders of his stuffed bear, Walter. “We can’t just run away,” protests the bear. “Your mother will miss you. And where will we sleep? And who will make us waffles?” “We’ll build our own house,” the boy responds. “And we’ll grow our own waffles!” From there, the pair go on their walkabout, encountering a garden gnome, a pair of snails, and a gang of animated coins who have lessons to offer about making choices. Though the author suggests in the introduction that adult readers might enjoy the book on their own, those looking for a follow-up to the memoir or a foray into adult fiction should be warned that this is not that book.
A sweet bedtime story.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9780593729960
Page Count: 128
Publisher: One World/Random House
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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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