While a bit repetitive, this captivating tale about a curious relationship will keep readers guessing.
A literary novel focuses on the distinctive relationship of two disparate souls.
Brigitte Weichmann, 48, is in Dijon, France. When readers first meet her, she is attending a support group for people dealing with loss. French is not Brigitte’s native language, and although the German woman sometimes stumbles with her words, she gets her point across: She is mourning the death of her only son, Michael. It is in the support group that she meets Christian Rolland. Christian, 35, is still getting over his divorce from a woman named Sylvie. Christian runs a bookshop in town and there is nothing that he loves more than reading. Brigitte, on the other hand, does not read. She has a penchant for musicals, particularly ones made before 1970. She is also a woman of immense wealth who can travel wherever she pleases. Despite this option, she decides to rent an apartment in Dijon. But where is her time with Christian leading? Brigitte is sometimes confused about the status of her own marriage to a factory owner named Hans. Perhaps she should go back to Hans. Or maybe she just needs more time to think about Michael. The desire to see what happens with Brigitte and Christian keeps Dragnić’s engaging story moving. Even deep into the book—translated from German by the author and Rose—the two characters’ fate remains a mystery. Will they fall in love? Have a falling out? Brigitte’s oddities add to her appeal. She is a woman who “would like to live in the black and white world of a black and white movie.” But a great deal about these characters winds up being repeated. For instance, readers already know about Christian’s divorce and yet he is keen to tell Brigitte flatly of what happened to his wife: “We’re divorced.” Likewise, readers are regularly reminded that Brigitte’s son is dead, a point that tends to eventually lose its dramatic impact. The intrigue comes not from the main characters’ pasts but their intertwined future.
While a bit repetitive, this captivating tale about a curious relationship will keep readers guessing.Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9798338277027
Page Count: 254
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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