An intricate, slow-burning patchwork of a debut novel.
Varying perspectives show the inner workings—and secrets—of a rural Vermont town.
The humdrum order of small-town Glenville, Vermont, is disrupted when a family moves in from New York. Parents Sarah and Jim Calper seek a better life for their son, Willoughby, while Will just seeks an end to the summer so he can leave for college. But when he meets sheltered, home-schooled Honey Mitchell and falls in love, he unknowingly changes Glenville forever. Kuebler’s debut novel spans a year in the town through the alternating perspectives of residents whose deepest thoughts betray a tense, insular place buried beneath a peaceful surface. As Honey defies her evangelical parents for Will, other characters go through parallel changes. Honey’s friend Sophie, for instance, deals with jealousy and fracturing friendships, while Nell, an isolated woman living alone in the woods, navigates poverty and disability in the midst of the cruel Vermont seasons. Honey and Will’s relationship, though shown sparingly, is the axis around which the story swings. Their devotion to one another brings about a surprising conclusion, one whose arrival Kuebler sows slowly and carefully. The narrative moves like the river that runs through the town: gentle at first, then harsh and unforgiving. At times dark, at other times beautiful, Kuebler’s debut shines in its precision. It picks apart each character’s thoughts in an unusual clipped stream-of-consciousness narrative. The characters’ points of view fit together like an elaborate quilt, gradually coming together into a satisfying whole. Kuebler’s skillful, minimalist prose carries this small-town story from tranquil beginning to perilous end. Among the residents’ growth, discovery, and tenderly told emotional arcs, only one thing is certain: Glenville will never be the same.
An intricate, slow-burning patchwork of a debut novel.Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781685891091
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Melville House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
A moving, realistic look at one woman’s post-divorce family life that manages to be both poignant and funny.
A recently divorced writer juggles a chaotic full house, a struggling career, and a confusing romantic life.
Lila Kennedy thought she had the perfect family—a loving mother, a doting stepfather, two wonderful daughters, and a great husband. She even wrote a self-help book about repairing a marriage, which was published a mere two weeks before her husband left her. After her own mother’s sudden death, Lila finds herself an unexpected single mom with her health-nut stepfather, Bill, for a roommate. When her long-absent actor father, Gene, moves in, things go from crowded to chaotic. When Gene isn’t talking about his memories of starring on a Star Trek–like television show, he’s starting fights with Bill. Perhaps the worst part is that Lila’s supposed to produce a new book about the unexpected direction her life has taken. She quickly finds that writing about her real-life romantic exploits (including the kind gardener Bill hired and the sexy single dad she lusts after at school pick-up) and the actual heartbreak that upended her family is easier said than done. Moyes creates a world that is believable and funny. It’s hilarious to read about the distinct characters in Lila’s life—such as her lentil-loving stepfather and egocentric biological father—interacting with each other. There’s plenty of drama here, but none of it feels forced. It all comes from flawed people doing their best to coexist and making plenty of mistakes along the way. Moyes combines the warmth of an Annabel Monaghan rom-com with the humanity of a Catherine Newman novel, creating a story that will provoke tears and laughter.
A moving, realistic look at one woman’s post-divorce family life that manages to be both poignant and funny.Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781984879325
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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
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