Tuesday Night Miracles

November 7, 2011
Dr. Olivia Bayer is at the end of her career as a therapist when she is given a new group of women for court-ordered anger management classes. Her evaluation is all that stands between them and jail time. Kit has assaulted a domineering brother in a drunken rage after her mother’s death; elegant and controlled Jane took the spiked heel of a red stiletto to the face of a co-worker when a desperately needed property sale fell through; and Grace repeatedly rammed her car into her daughter’s boyfriend-from-hell’s car when she found it parked in front of the house. Leah, a last-minute addition to the group, is a battered wife living in a shelter with a story even more disturbing than the others’. Olivia decides that for once she is going to follow her own instincts and put aside the strict protocol usually required of such weekly group therapy sessions, with uneven results. Radish exhibits a deep understanding of and compassion for women who opt for fight rather than flight in tough situations. She does not trivialize them, their crimes, or the painful process of recovery; she has a keen eye for the good and bad in female relationships. The weak link here has to do with Olivia’s experimental approach to anger management, which comes across as underdeveloped and simplistic. Nevertheless, the strong personalities will resonate for many readers.

November 15, 2011
Four women are sentenced to a very unusual anger-management class. Olivia, a Chicago psychotherapist, is launching a daring new variant of the anger-management group sessions she has been leading for years. Her latest patients have been court-ordered to attend the class in lieu of jail, after angry outbursts landed them in the criminal-justice system. Kit went after her brother with a broken bottle after he criticized her care during their elderly mother's final weeks. When a deal falls through, Jane, a once-affluent broker whose business was decimated by the Crash of '08, beats a colleague with a stiletto shoe. Exhausted after a hard day of nursing, Grace reacts to her teen daughter Kelli's disobedience by wrecking Kelli's boyfriend's car. Leah, who lives in a domestic-abuse shelter, hits one of her children. To varying degrees, all four patients have man problems. Olivia, abetted by her amazingly sentient cocker spaniel Phyllis, challenges the women with assignments that reflect the unspoken longings of each: Jane is sent on a nature hike and to a children's birthday party, and Kit to a comedy club. Leah is chauffeured for a mani/pedi, and Grace escapes from a singles event to close a bar with a fellow divorcée. Group excursions include sessions at a rifle range and a bowling alley. All the women, including Olivia, harbor secrets. The framework of an anger-management class offers many opportunities for spellbinding storytelling, and Radish avails herself of almost none. Too often the women's debacles provide a platform for platitudinous preaching and pat affirmations rather than for insightful examination of their anger issues. An intriguing concept, woefully underdeveloped.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

December 15, 2011
Kit, Jane, and Grace are angry. Each woman succumbs to violence (Kit with a broken wine bottle, Jane with a stiletto, while Grace trashes her teenage daughter's boyfriend's car), and they are sent to an anger-management class led by Dr. Olivia Bayer, a clog-wearing hippie. Olivia's impending retirement emboldens her to try nontraditional therapies, such as going hiking and adding Leah, a single mother living in a shelter with her two young children, to the group. Each of the four women fights introspection, holding on to the comfort of her anger. Of course, Olivia, with her aging cocker spaniel, Phyllis, shows them another way. For such an intense topic, the novel's pace is leisurely, even slow in places, and excessive hint dropping about great secrets renders the revelations a little lackluster. Most of the characters are likable, but readers will find themselves rooting for even the unlikable ones. There are scenes of humor, genuine emotion, and lots and lots of tea. Fans of Radish's earlier fiction (Hearts on a String, 2010) will enjoy talking this over with the women in their lives.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)