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When their hard-drinking but loving father dies in a car accident, teenage brothers Kyle and Klint Hayes face a bleak prospect: leaving their Pennsylvania hometown for an uncertain life in Arizona with the mother who ran out on them years ago. But in a strange twist of fate, their town's matriarch, an eccentric, wealthy old woman whose family once owned the county coal mines, hears the boys' story. Candace Jack doesn't have an ounce of maternal instinct, yet for reasons she does not even understand herself, she is compelled to offer them a home. Suddenly, the two boys go from living in a small, run-down house on a gravel road to a stately mansion filled with sumptuous furnishings and beautiful artwork-artwork that's predominantly centered, oddly, on bullfighting. And then there's Miss Jack's real-life bull: Ventisco-a regal, hulking, jet-black beast who roams the land she owns with fiery impudence. Kyle adjusts more easily to the transition. A budding artist, he finds a kindred spirit in Miss Jack. But local baseball hero Klint refuses to warm up to his new benefactress and instead throws himself into his game with a fierceness that troubles his little brother. Klint is not just grieving his father's death; he's carrying a terrible secret that he has never revealed to anyone. Unbeknownst to the world, Candace Jack has a secret too-a tragic, passionate past in Spain that the boys' presence threatens to reveal as she finds herself caring more for them than she ever believed possible. From the muted, bruised hills of Pennsylvania coal country to the colorful, flamboyant bull rings of southern Spain, Tawni O'Dell takes us on a riveting journey not only between two completely different lands, but also between seemingly incompatible souls, casting us under her narrative spell in which characters and places are rendered with fragile tenderness.… (more)
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How does the combination of two teen-aged boys, and a wealthy, elderly woman with an interesting history and a massive prize bull, yes, BULL, living on her property in western Pennsylvania sound for the take off points of a novel?
The author of "Fragile Beasts", Tawni
I liked it for the believable characters, the story, the excellent dialogue, the premise, the entertainment value, the life lessons offered and not rammed down my throat. Enough said.
The story was told from all the main characters viewpoint which gives insight on why each character behaves the way they do.
A multilayered
Quote," That day I realized God or no God, Fate or no Fate, it didn't matter. All the centuries of man looking for answers with his philosophy and politics, his
Set in Pennsylvania coal country, Fragile Beasts tells the story of the wealthy and reclusive Candace Jack, a woman who has tried to recreate the Spain of her youth in the remote mansion where she makes her home. Her obsession for all things Spanish begins as so many obsessions do: with a loss. The love of her life, a Spanish bullfighter, was killed in the ring, leaving Candace to forever mourn what could have been. Understandably, the town sees her as the crazy old spinster lady that nobody ever sees--although, in lieu of cats, she keeps a bull. That's right. A bull. She bought the bull that killed her lover and has always kept one bull from each generation.
So, we have an old woman nearing the end of a life created from walling herself off from her own emotions and from other people. We've been here before. There's only one thing to do: create a plot device by which she is forced to interact with a young person who is damaged himself/herself and through this unlikely pairing, both will be forever changed. In this case, Candace agrees to take in two teenage boys who have recently lost their father in a drunk driving accident. Their mother left years ago and is clearly an unfit parent, even though she returns to collect the boys and move them to Arizona. Candace reluctantly agrees to take the boys in mainly to spite the mother, to whom she takes an instant dislike. The rest of the novel follows the uneasy relationship between the two boys, Kyle and Klint, who are coping with the death of their father, and Candace, a woman whose motherly instincts are non-existent.
My main complaint is that there was simply too much going on. There are two stories, one set in the past during Candace's experiences in Spain and one in the present. The present day story is narrated from 3 points of view: Candace, Kyle (the sensitive, more emotionally open boy), and her Spanish butler/friend Luis. However, the "voice" between these three perspectives isn't varied enough. Kyle in particular seems inauthentic as his chapters don't always read like that of a young teenager. Sure, he's mature for his age, but I've never known a teenager to be that insightful. Candace Jack is exactly what one would expect of a wealthy older woman--always concerned with the proper way of dressing, speaking, eating, behaving, etc. If she had been more salty and cantankerous it would have given the novel more energy and perhaps more suspense. She has flashes of humor, but they're sparse. These first person points of view also led to a lot of telling and not showing. Most of the chapters were internal dialogue in which the character reflected on the progress being made in forming the tentative bonds that would eventually bring them together as a family. Instead of reflections, I would have preferred to see more in the moment interactions between the characters. The Luis chapters serve primarily to explain what happened in Candace's life decades ago.
Despite its predictability and its flaws, there were some compelling moments, some witty dialogue, and I admire O'Dell's refusal to shy away from the dark corners of life. For me, the back story of Candace and the bullfighter were the most interesting, as were Luis's stories about being a boy in Spain. These stories made me wish an entire novel had been dedicated to Candace's youth. As it is, the competing storylines never seem to get the breathing room they need to come alive.
That said, I quite
Klint's struggles were evident to me despite his talents with baseball and when he finally "cracked", I was touched with Kyle's support for him - actually, all along.
The story unfolded a bit predictably but I must say that the references to Candace's being "old" came on much too strong for my taste. Is 77 really that old and does one go from a supposed vital, in charge woman to one so frail, so fast? ( wishful thinking on my part?)
One other part I had a chuckle about was Luis saying that one of the things he would like to teach Americans was that Ernest Hemingway knew nothing about bull fighting. I imagine Hemingway would be insulted by that given how much he experienced and wrote about the subject.
So, will I recommend this book to my book club? I'm still not sure although one could find several opinions to share I'm sure. I did love the title of the book though - very apt given the story of the bulls who are really fierce beasts who can be very destructive but too,in the end can be as fragile as turning away from a supposed threat ( Candice in the field) and the humans in the story who interact with them with their fragile natures but can succumb to the pressures of their lives.
I give it a 4.
I normally am a fan of Tawni O'Dell's writing, although her more recent novels have missed the mark with me. I would describe this one as mediocre. I never really felt pulled into this story and none of the characters particularly grabbed me. I'm not sure the two storylines really melded all that well, and I can't say that the bullfighting aspect was a big draw for me. I won't give up on O'Dell's writing, but I don't think this one was her best effort.