In a fable about an archery guru, Coelho returns to his New Age niche.
This is a loose agglomeration of half-baked philosophical principals masquerading as a novel. The plot is thin: At an indeterminate time in a place vaguely resembling Japan, a stranger comes to the village where Tetsuya, a former master archer, has chosen an anonymous existence as a carpenter. This is the classic sensei-apprentice scenario, the Karate Kid with everything removed but the aphorisms. The stranger has flushed out Tetsuya, with the mixed motives of wanting to show off his own bow-and-arrow chops and ask for pointers. Tetsuya puts the stranger’s skills to the test. The stranger, the archer, and a local boy who will become his apprentice head for a rickety bridge suspended across a chasm. From this precarious perch, swaying in the wind, Tetsuya fires off a perfect hit—piercing a peach at 20 meters. But the stranger is rattled by the danger and misses. Thereby hangs a rather obvious lesson—it’s important to train for difficult as well as optimal circumstances. Spoiler alert: This is the book’s last action sequence, and it’s only the prologue. The novel proper takes the form of Tetsuya’s lectures to the boy as they return to the village. The “way of the bow” so imparted can be summed up as: We are what we continually do; find your tribe; preparation is everything; breathe; maintain elegant posture; be here now. Such tenets, of course, serve any number of disciplines. The ultimate takeaway is confusing—the thing you are best at may not be the thing you love, and you should always embrace the latter as your ultimate calling, as Tetsuya has chosen carpentry. Imagery by Niemann, the compact format, and plenty of white space make this look like an ideal gift book, but the platitudinous text is an afterthought.
Check it out for the charming illustrations.Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-31827-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
Categories: GENERAL FICTION | LITERARY FICTION
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When a family convenes at their Cape Cod summer home for a wedding, old secrets threaten to ruin everything.
Sarah Danhauser is shocked when her beloved stepdaughter announces her engagement to her boyfriend, Gabe. After all, Ruby’s only 22, and Sarah suspects that their relationship was fast-tracked because of the time they spent together in quarantine during the early days of the pandemic. Sarah’s mother, Veronica, is thrilled, mostly because she longs to have the entire family together for one last celebration before she puts their Cape Cod summer house on the market. But getting to Ruby and Gabe’s wedding might prove more difficult than anyone thought. Sarah can’t figure out why her husband, Eli, has been so distant and distracted ever since Ruby moved home to Park Slope (bringing Gabe with her), and she's afraid he may be having an affair. Veronica is afraid that a long-ago dalliance might come back to bite her. Ruby isn’t sure how to process the conflicting feelings she’s having about her upcoming nuptials. And Sam, Sarah’s twin brother, is a recent widower who’s dealing with some pretty big romantic confusion. As the entire extended family, along with Gabe’s relatives, converges on the summer house, secrets become impossible to keep, and it quickly becomes clear that this might not be the perfect gathering Veronica was envisioning. If they make it to the wedding, will their family survive the aftermath? Weiner creates a story with all the misunderstandings and miscommunications of a screwball comedy or a Shakespeare play (think A Midsummer Night’s Dream). But the surprising, over-the-top actions of the characters are grounded by a realistic and moving look at grief and ambition (particularly for Sarah and Veronica, both of whom give up demanding creative careers early on). At times the flashbacks can slow down the story, but even when the characters are lying, cheating, and hiding from each other, they still seem like a real and loving family.
An alternately farcical and poignant look at family bonds.Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5011-3357-2
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
Categories: FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | LITERARY FICTION
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With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
17
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After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
Categories: ROMANCE | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE | GENERAL ROMANCE | GENERAL FICTION
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