An entertaining novel that founders in its superficial treatment of its characters, particularly women.
Intrigue, romantic rivalries, and mistaken identities abound in this Victorian drama.
Nathan Sinclair, the protagonist and piano-playing prodigy of Colton’s debut work of historical fiction, doesn’t think he’s anything other than the poor son of a French opera singer. But a meeting with celebrity debutante Jocelyn Charlesworth, so beautiful that “once you gaze upon her countenance, it is impossible to resist staring…disbelieving that a face could be so radiant,” launches an adventure he never could have imagined. Pursued by debt collectors, Nathan decides to become a fugitive, evading the law while performing at the social gatherings of London’s elite. At one such party, he’s introduced to Regina Lancaster, with whom he immediately falls in love. Though not as beautiful as Jocelyn, Regina, who lost her parents at a young age in a fire, helps place orphans with loving families. Meanwhile, Jocelyn, who needs “the perfect excuse to decline introductions and put a halt to [her] tedious letter writing,” hatches a scheme to convince her meddling family she’s courting Nathan, promising him that “since this shall all be a game, our feelings cannot be truly hurt.” Hoping to discredit Nathan, Jocelyn’s brother secretly publishes an article claiming that Nathan’s father was an art forger who was “sent to prison for twenty years, where he died.” Humiliated, Nathan disappears from London’s high society, but he is finally free to propose to his “beloved” Regina. A final twist reveals Nathan’s true parentage and ensures his engagement to Jocelyn, but he already promised himself to Regina. Nathan must choose between Jocelyn’s wealth and beauty and Regina’s virtue. Though this is an exciting read, packed with mysteries and unexpected twists, it lacks charm. The final chapters of the book resolve disappointingly, and women are treated solely as objects for marriage. According to Colton, beauty is a woman’s most valuable trait; the literally “disfigured” Regina is more suited for work than love, while the desired Jocelyn is destined for a life of “passion and pleasure.” The flat treatment of these female characters makes an otherwise engrossing novel unlikable.
An entertaining novel that founders in its superficial treatment of its characters, particularly women.Pub Date: July 11, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-68114-229-6
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Anaphora Literary Press
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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