A bewitching Southern epic that deals elegantly with the mysteries of fate.
Historical fiction meets Southern gothic in this World War I–era doorstop set on an Appalachian farm.
In the winter of 1916, Charleston-born Trevor Middleton is poised to become one of the first American Ambulance Field Service members to join the Escadrille Américaine, a group of American volunteer pilots fighting for the French cause during World War I. But when an accident leaves him severely injured, Trevor has no choice but to leave his new life—and his crush, Hannah, a nurse at the Lycée Pasteur—and return stateside to convalesce. With his physician uncle in tow, the refined Southerner settles in the Appalachian mountain town of Hickory Nut Gorge during a spring cold spell, where he crosses paths with a host of memorable characters. Annie, the strong-willed preacher’s daughter, is chief among them; the worldly Trevor fuels her fantasies of leaving her small town for good. But just as Trevor has begun to carve out a new life in the mountains, a terrible flood comes along and changes everything yet again. Save for the expletives and occasional shocks of gore (a gruesome eye injury during a bull attack comes to mind), the rich narrative and unhurried pace recall the kind of meandering novel a teacher might read aloud to young students as a treat at the end of each day. Each new chapter, character, and plot twist pulls readers into the book’s carefully crafted universe, thoughtfully grounded in the historical events of the day. World War I history sticklers will be impressed by the detailed accuracy of Trevor’s military trajectory in France, while residents of Appalachia will appreciate the sumptuous passages devoted to “leather britches,” among other regional delights. Hill is a passionate storyteller and absolutely in her element.
A bewitching Southern epic that deals elegantly with the mysteries of fate.Pub Date: May 23, 2024
ISBN: 9798330209040
Page Count: 370
Publisher: IngramSpark
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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