An engrossing collection grounded by the complex emotional dynamics between soldiers and their families.
Kelly presents an anthology of stories reflecting the effects of war on home and family.
Drawing on her experiences as the wife of a fighter pilot during her husband’s three wartime deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the author, a novelist and poet, collects here 14 tales inspired by the lives of women affected by military service and war. Kelly observes that the stress and sadness that come with the death of a loved one can often become catalysts for personal change, as evidenced in the opening story, “Finding the Good Light,” in which Diane, emotionally exhausted after attending eight military funerals and divorcing her Navy husband, finds renewal by becoming a Hollywood actress. One of the author’s most obvious storytelling strengths is her credible, acute portrayal of interpersonal tensions, as demonstrated in the memorable “Prayers of an American Wife,” when one Navy wife discovers another, who happens to be her neighbor, enjoying an illicit extramarital affair. While noticing a strange male visitor entering her neighbor’s house through the side door one day, the faithful observing wife finds herself “savagely heartbroken,” nervously clutching her Pomeranian, who’s blissfully “unaware of the betrayal happening just across the lawn.” This knack is evident even in the collection’s shortest tale, “The Strangers of Dubai,” in which a soldier on leave with his wife visits an Afghan gold market with questionable bargaining tactics. The affecting coming-of-age evolution of a military brat in “Rachel’s Story” profiles a girl as she rapidly learns about big-city life, friendship, love, and the precious commodity of time. Kelly clearly channeled her own emotions, confusion, loneliness, sacrifice, and love into these stories illuminating the struggle of family members who may not be fighting wars on the battlefield but are keeping the home fires burning. These themes provide richly resonant material for these well-written short stories about the wartime experience told from the perspectives of those waiting patiently (and impatiently) at home.
An engrossing collection grounded by the complex emotional dynamics between soldiers and their families.Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781647791445
Page Count: 172
Publisher: University of Nevada Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Haig’s positive message will keep his fans happy.
A British widow travels to Ibiza and learns that it’s never too late to have a happy life.
In a world that seems to be getting more unstable by the moment, Haig’s novels are a steady ship in rough seas, offering a much-needed positive message. In works like the bestselling The Midnight Library (2020), he reminds us that finding out what you truly love and where you belong in the universe are the foundations of building a better existence. His latest book continues this upbeat messaging, albeit in a somewhat repetitive and facile way. Retired British schoolteacher Grace Winters discovers that an old acquaintance has died and left her a ramshackle home in Ibiza. A widow who lost her only child years earlier, Grace is at first reluctant to visit the house, because, at 72, she more or less believes her chance for happiness is over—but when she rouses herself to travel to the island, she discovers the opposite is true. A mystery surrounds her friend’s death involving a roguish islander, his activist daughter, an internationally famous DJ, and a strange glow in the sea that acts as a powerful life force and upends Grace’s ideas of how the cosmos works. Framed as a response to a former student’s email, the narrative follows Grace’s journey from skeptic (she was a math teacher, after all) to believer in the possibility of magic as she learns to move on from the past. Her transformation is the book’s main conflict, aside from a protest against an evil developer intent on destroying Ibiza’s natural beauty. The outcome is never in doubt, and though the story often feels stretched to the limit—this novel could have easily been a novella—the author’s insistence on the power of connection to change lives comes through loud and clear.
Haig’s positive message will keep his fans happy.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780593489277
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
A vibrant tale of a remarkable woman.
Who was Shakespeare?
Move over, Earl of Oxford and Francis Bacon: There’s another contender for the true author of plays attributed to the bard of Stratford—Emilia Bassano, a clever, outspoken, educated woman who takes center stage in Picoult’s spirited novel. Of Italian heritage, from a family of court musicians, Emilia was a hidden Jew and the courtesan of a much older nobleman who vetted plays to be performed for Queen Elizabeth. She was well traveled—unlike Shakespeare, she visited Italy and Denmark, where, Picoult imagines, she may have met Rosencrantz and Guildenstern—and was familiar with court intrigue and English law. “Every gap in Shakespeare’s life or knowledge that has had to be explained away by scholars, she somehow fills,” Picoult writes. Encouraged by her lover, Emilia wrote plays and poetry, but 16th-century England was not ready for a female writer. Picoult interweaves Emilia’s story with that of her descendant Melina Green, an aspiring playwright, who encounters the same sexist barriers to making herself heard that Emilia faced. In alternating chapters, Picoult follows Melina’s frustrated efforts to get a play produced—a play about Emilia, who Melina is certain sold her work to Shakespeare. Melina’s play, By Any Other Name, “wasn’t meant to be a fiction; it was meant to be the resurrection of an erasure.” Picoult creates a richly detailed portrait of daily life in Elizabethan England, from sumptuous castles to seedy hovels. Melina’s story is less vivid: Where Emilia found support from the witty Christopher Marlowe, Melina has a fashion-loving gay roommate; where Emilia faces the ravages of repeated outbreaks of plague, for Melina, Covid-19 occurs largely offstage; where Emilia has a passionate affair with the adoring Earl of Southampton, Melina’s lover is an awkward New York Times theater critic. It’s Emilia’s story, and Picoult lovingly brings her to life.
A vibrant tale of a remarkable woman.Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9780593497210
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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