Tenderly observant and rewarding poetry.
This debut collection of poetry offers an amble through life and nature.
“There is nothing tidy about this volume,” writes Parker in his opening letter to readers. Yet even though the poems are not ordered by “history, subject matter, literary form, or style,” there is a satisfying sense of cohesion to the collection. The author approaches a broad range of subjects, from nature and religion to families and food—he even writes his own obituary—but the poems remain united by Parker’s sedately measured narrative voice. In a coming-of-age poem entitled “Conversion,” he describes his father, a Vermont farmer who became a minister, “in the confidence of his black robe / pouring the unction of his words / over the congregation.” The author’s smooth-edged observations serve similarly as a balm, soothing the painful questions of existence. In “No Doubt,” he writes a maxim for life that epitomizes his poetic worldview: “This is my present: to be in love with everything, and more / with lovely things that will be quickly spent; / still more, because the loss is permanent.” Parker’s sense of peace and determination to savor life are contagious. His poetry takes joy in the overlooked details of flora. In “Leeks,” he first provides the gardener’s perspective of watching the vegetables grow, noting whimsically: “The leaves become their /stockings underground. / By fall the stems are layers / of thin socks tugged up on / each other—no feet at all.” That is followed pleasingly by the viewpoint of the cook: “I will / have thick soup before / December’s iron freeze.” The poem is sensuous and transporting—leading readers to the vegetable patch and later placing the steaming potage before them. Throughout the volume, the poet’s use of simile is exquisitely pictorial and refreshingly innovative: “My words bounced / like butterflies off a rhinoceros.” But there are occasional falters toward cliché: “The high narrow wheels rode through like Jesus / walking on the water.” While several illustrations by Tyrol do not greatly inform or improve the reading experience, this is nonetheless an enchanting collection.
Tenderly observant and rewarding poetry.Pub Date: June 9, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-57869-031-2
Page Count: 134
Publisher: Rootstock Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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