When it comes to facing tragedy and trauma, Quick's novel shows us that it definitely takes a village to heal and move on.
The author of The Silver Linings Playbook (2008) tells a story of unexpected twists and turns on the road to recovery after a shattering tragedy.
Lucas Goodgame is dealing with a lot. He's a high school counselor in Majestic, Pennsylvania, who survived a mass shooting in the town’s historic theater. His wife, Darcy, was killed and has been transformed into an angel; his analyst, whose own wife was killed in the shooting, won’t answer his desperate letters; and there’s a kid camped in his yard who might hold the key to helping the town heal. Quick became a household name thanks to his debut novel and the 2012 Oscar-winning movie adaptation, and he's conjured a similar feeling of community and tender family affection here, with plenty of people helping Lucas cope with the unimaginable. That includes Jill, owner of the local coffee shop and his late wife’s best friend. Jill feeds and cares for Lucas, and it’s clear she wants more from him, but he’s not ready—not when the angelic Darcy is visiting him at night, wrapping her wings around him and leaving feathers on his bed in the morning. But it’s Eli, the shooter's younger brother, who has the greatest impact on Lucas' recovery. Eli is struggling with guilt—he saw his brother's behavior take a sinister turn and didn’t warn anyone—and he pitches a tent behind his former counselor’s house. Soon, inspired by Darcy’s enigmatic words—"the boy is the way forward”—Lucas realizes that helping Eli make a monster movie for his senior class project just might help the teen, the traumatized survivors, and the town find meaning in the senseless deaths of 17 of its citizens. The novel is timely in light of what’s taking place in the U.S. now, and some characters turn their grief into political activism, but that’s not Quick’s focus. He doesn't delve into issues like gun control or the shooter’s motivations, which makes the story feel superficial at times. Instead, his focus is on Lucas' healing journey, the people who love him (we should all be so lucky), and how the mind makes “valiant attempts to protect us” until we’re ready to deal with our losses.
When it comes to facing tragedy and trauma, Quick's novel shows us that it definitely takes a village to heal and move on.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668005-42-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Avid Reader Press
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
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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