There's little new in this familiar coming-of-age tale, but it's extremely readable and has an appealing protagonist.
Journalist-turned-novelist Steavenson follows a young woman’s quest for fulfillment from a privileged, unhappy childhood through graduation from Radcliffe in 1968.
The author skillfully sets the scene with 8-year-old Margot Thornsen’s fall from a treehouse. Her self-absorbed mother’s reaction to the diagnosis of a concussion? “Don’t whine,” she tells her weeping daughter as the wound is stitched shut. Once-bold, adventurous Margot is transformed overnight into a cautious, fearful child, though this seems an inevitable reaction to Mother’s constant criticism. Margot’s growth spurt to 6 feet is viewed by Peggy Vanderloep Thornsen as one more impediment to her finding a suitable husband, along with the girl’s mystifying interest in science and regrettable tendency to do well in school. Steavenson depicts her characters with very broad strokes, and the 1950s and ’60s landscape is decidedly generic, but her portrait of the post–WWII American upper class, on the brink of change but still implacably bound to old ways, is unquestionably compelling. Margot’s fascination with biochemistry, which blossoms at Radcliffe into a determination to pursue a career as a scientist, is as credible and engaging as her ongoing infatuation with Trip Merryweather, the boy from the mansion next door. Forever keeping Margot on a string while he pursues prettier girls, Trip is one of the many strongly delineated secondary characters. They include Trip’s much more sympathetic older brother, Richie, a medical student; Margot’s free-spirited friend Maddy, whom Richie helps get a safe though illegal abortion; and Sandy Full, who casts a sardonic eye on the cluelessness of the privileged from his vantage point as the son of someone who “married the help.” The extent to which Margot is enclosed by this world can be judged by her thought when Sandy says he’s from Philly. “Frilly? Was that somewhere in Connecticut?” Her liberation from this stifling cocoon is only partially complete, as the novel ends with her departure for London, leaving behind a whole lot of unfinished business that blatantly signals there will be a sequel.
There's little new in this familiar coming-of-age tale, but it's extremely readable and has an appealing protagonist.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-324-02084-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
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
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
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