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THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE

A free-floating reflection on human connection that never quite touches ground.

A sentimental author reflects on his life and career as he lies dying.

In the final days of his life, Max Little takes memory and gratitude as the tasks at hand. Writing a journal from his hospital bed, he describes the people who have mattered to him: Carol, the therapist he saw in the weeks following his diagnosis; Jeremy, a kindred spirit facing the loss of his mother; and, most importantly, his wife, Hadley, whom he met when they were children. After his diagnosis, he wonders how he should break the news to her. How will his death affect her? These questions weigh on Max even more than his own sadness: While his diagnosis does cause pain, Max’s tone is overwhelmingly one of acceptance and nostalgia. “Those we’ve lost do return,” he says. In the novel’s brief second section, we see that theory manifest in scenes taking place eight years after Max's death. The concept of listening to a famous author reflect on life and writing is an appealing one, but the novel's aphoristic musings are often too pat to yield new insight or too abstract to reconfigure the reader's views. One of Max’s central claims is that each reader will imagine scenes differently in light of their unique experience. To that end, he repeatedly invokes his readers—“good company you are”; “It’s actually you telling the story”—but the novel is most affecting when it commits to a narrative of its own. Max’s initial response to his diagnosis is particularly poignant: He goes through a series of everyday activities—making toast, brewing tea, taking a bath—that feel like “impersonating myself.” But his later posture of calm renders the narrative placid and oddly ethereal.

A free-floating reflection on human connection that never quite touches ground.

Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-56792-744-3

Page Count: 184

Publisher: Godine

Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022

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THE WOMEN

A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.

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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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IT STARTS WITH US

Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.

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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

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