Laura Hewson and Gillian Vine
take a look at the later popular fiction.
Susan Henderson's Up From the Blue (HarperCollins,
$28.99, pbk) is a wonderful, emotionally draining read from
start to finish, telling the story of Tillie, a young girl
growing up with a mentally ill mother.
The story centres on the year Tillie is 8 - the year
everything changes for her family. Quirky and socially
isolated, she already knows her mother is not like other
mothers.
The house is rarely clean and her mother often finds it hard
to get dressed in the morning.
Andthen she disappears, leaving Tillie with her stern
military father, her detached older brother and the fear that
something terrible has happened.
The young Tillie has a believable voice and is so tragically
vulnerable that I wanted to step in and protecther myself. At
the very least I wanted to give the nearest child a hug.
Up from the Blue is a haunting story of childhood
suffering and survival, and one well worth the inevitable
tears.
- Laura Hewson
• Like several other successful
thriller writers, including Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell
has lost her touch in recent books.
Sadly, her latest, Port Mortuary (Little, Brown,
$39.99, pbk) is no exception.
After reading the first couple of dozen pages, in which
Cornwell describes in brain-freezing detail how to fly a
helicopter, Port Mortuary segues into a sci-fi
adventure of sorts.
Part of a tiny, radio-controlled "insect" is found stuck to a
dead man's clothing and although the potential use of the
flybot is obvious, Cornwell again gets bogged down in a
technical mire that leaves the reader wondering what Port
Mortuary is allabout.
Tired, tiresome and trite.
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