This section contains 430 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |
SOURCE: A review of Corrigan, in Kirkus Reviews, Vol. LIII, No. 4, February 15, 1985, p. 145.
In the following review, the critic states that although Blackwood's plot in Corrigan is predictable, her dialogue and observations are well-written.
The life-enhancing, restorative con-man—generous despite his fakery, a giver of much-needed love and confidence—is a familiar figure in Anglo-American storytelling, from Dickens to Twain to The Music Man. And here [in Corrigan], though Blackwood (The Stepdaughter, Great Granny Webster) stylishly fleshes out the basic tale with ironic charm and some shrewd psychology, she eventually returns to the usual formula—complete with an O. Henry-ish windup of sentimental revelations. Devina Blunt, still grieving over the death of her beloved colonel-husband, has sunk into a life of gloomy idleness and near-invalidism in her lovely little country house. Her daughter Nadine, a very rare visitor and the unhappy wife of a selfish London journalist, has...
This section contains 430 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |