A tale of two Hannahs
Decades ago, I read something in a novel by Lorrie Moore that I strongly identified with. In Anagrams, one of the narrators says she struggles with names that are too similar, like Bill Cosby and Bing Crosby, John Lennon and Jack Lemmon. Exactly. I struggle to keep John Connoly and Michael Connelly separate in my mind. In the same way, Kristin Hannah and Sophie Hannah were, in the back of my mind, one and the same writer — one who writes lovely, somewhat sugary love stories.
This week, with the kind of coincidence characterising the everyday, I read two books by the two Hannah authors, one after the other. First Sophie Hannah, then Kristin Hannah. And there is a big difference, believe me.
Sophie Hannah is British, and she looks delightfully windswept and eccentric, with wild hair, black-rimmed glasses, and always a dog in her arms. Kristin Hannah is very American and looks more like Daryl Hannah than Sophie.
No One Would Do What The Lamberts Have Done is an exceptional book. Completely offbeat. One of the narrators is a dog who has been dead for some time and now resides in Level 2 of the afterlife, but is actually everywhere. The novel revolves around Sally Lambert and her dog Champ. Sally is a scatterbrained, quirky mother of two human children and two dog children — one already deceased, but always close to her. She makes no distinction between her children.
The Lamberts’ arch-enemies are their neighbors, the Gaveys. The Gaveys are truly a horrid family — as unequivocally awful as Cruella de Vil and other cartoon villains. They are spiteful, yell at each other, and spread discord. Sally’s world falls apart when the Gavey daughter, Tess, accuses the Lamberts’ dog-child Champ of biting her and disfiguring her arm. She reports it to the police and posts photos on Instagram.
Ironically, Champ is an absolute teddy bear who has never bitten anyone. The Lamberts’ previous dog, Furbert Herbert Lambert, was a nervous biter. Sally can’t face letting the law take its course — her fear is that they’ll be forced to put Champ down. So she goes on the run, with her family — some of them reluctantly — in tow.
How does the reader experience the story? Through an anonymous manuscript discovered by a policeman, which examines the events and characters from different perspectives.
Sophie Hannah is a bestselling author and she can write. It’s funny and unexpected, the dialogue is convincing. Sally’s teenage children launch an internet campaign that turns Champ into a sensation. There are many twists and surprises.
It becomes clear early on that the feud between the families culminated in murder, and the reader wants to know what happened.
The novel is absolutely heartwarming, like a mug of hot chocolate. It’s full of humor, intellect, suspense, subtle insight, and an overwhelming love for dogs. I highly recommend it.
No One Would Do What The Lamberts Have Done is published by Bedford Square Publishers and costs R299 at Amazon SA.
In challenging times, it’s sometimes necessary to read escapist literature, like Summer Island, a tender and complex love story set on an island. Kristin’s style is very different from Sophie’s. Kristin loves purplish nature descriptions and lots of adjectives. Her characters are faced with seemingly insurmountable dilemmas, but the reader knows that love will conquer all. In this sense, it’s reminiscent of Nora Roberts’s novels. The characters are beautiful, talented, and tormented. Old love never dies. Passion burns like a piping hot curried potato.
Nora Bridge is an agony aunt on the radio and in newspaper columns. Her advice always comes from the heart and makes perfect sense — unlike her own life. Eleven years ago, she left her husband and two teenage daughters. At first, the reader thinks it was to chase fame and fortune, but of course, it’s not that simple — every story has many sides. Her oldest daughter has a picture perfect life and maintains a bit of contact with her. Her youngest, Ruby, is adrift and angry, and they have no contact at all. Ruby is an aspiring comedian who isn’t really making it in Hollywood. Her meagre existence is starkly contrasted by her mother’s wealth — which she wants nothing to do with. After her mother left, she broke the heart of her childhood sweetheart and hasn’t allowed anyone to get close to her since.
Then a scandal breaks: nude photos of Nora are published. The press digs up her entire past, and readers and listeners are outraged — how can someone who abandoned her family give marriage advice?
She day drinks, crashes into a tree, and ends up temporarily in a wheelchair. Of all people, Ruby becomes her caregiver on the island where they used to spend summers as a family. Bitter words are exchanged. Ruby has a hidden agenda: she’s writing an exposé about her mother for a prestigious magazine. They payment is excellent. Will mother and daughter find each other again in the old vacation home? Can years of misunderstanding be cleared up? Why did Nora really leave? Teasing questions.
As fate would have it, Ruby’s childhood love — who never forgot her — is also nearby. He’s taking care of his brother, who is dying of cancer.
Will love break through Ruby’s defenses? Will this love story, as usual, end at the altar? Read it yourself, if that’s your kind of thing.
Summer Island by Kristin Hannah is published by Macmillan and R395 at Amazon SA.
