An engrossing, if overstuffed, tale of heartbreak and forgiveness.
Dark secrets lead to pain, intrigue, and golf in this novel.
It’s 1973 in Charleston, South Carolina, and Eli Atkins is a high school senior with a lot going for him: a loving stepfather and younger brother; a beautiful girlfriend; and an offer to play minor league baseball after graduation. His mother has never shown him much affection because “she saw her ex-husband every time she saw Eli,” but his life is otherwise charmed. Then Eli’s girlfriend is murdered and he becomes the prime suspect. And although Eli’s mother could exonerate him, she coldly informs him that she will not be his alibi. Instead, despite his innocence, she pushes him to flee their home to spare the family further shame. Feeling unloved and unwanted, Eli turns to family friend Mrs. Babcock for help. With the aid of a well-connected, local businessman, the shrewd Mrs. Babcock devises a plan for Eli to flee the country and hide in the Bahamas. Eli slowly builds a new life for himself under an alias, but even in a beachy paradise, all he can think of is returning home and clearing his name. When he meets a one-legged Scottish golf pro named Lachlan McGregor and blossoms into a stellar player, things finally start to look up. Lachlan’s gorgeous niece, Rachel, also helps matters. But Eli’s golf talent brings him to the attention of a conniving fraudster, and his new life turns almost as messy as his old one. Will Eli ever be able to go home? In this ambitious tale, Attaway expertly evokes both the Lowcountry’s “moss-covered trees rising up from the swamps and grass islands” and the white beaches of the Bahamas. The many twists and turns of the book’s plot will keep readers engaged, although long sections of unnecessary backstory regarding relatively minor characters, such as the relatives of Mrs. Babcock’s son-in-law, occasionally cause the pace to drag. But for Pat Conroy fans who love golf, Attaway’s absorbing novel will be a hole in one.
An engrossing, if overstuffed, tale of heartbreak and forgiveness.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-7354016-7-6
Page Count: 366
Publisher: Linksland Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 23, 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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