The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters

Starred review from October 27, 2003
Hollywood and leukemia are the two unlikely poles of this wrenching, tragicomic first novel by independent producer and screenwriter Robinson. Pouring out her troubles in epistolary form, 34-year-old Olivia Hunt, a struggling film producer, chronicles a year of dizzying highs and devastating lows. As the novel begins, she receives news that her younger sister, Madeline, recently married and happily settled in the sisters' Ohio hometown, has been diagnosed with leukemia. Olivia herself is at loose ends, trying to jump-start her career by putting together a big-budget production of Don Quixote
. Impatient, ambitious and often caustic, Olivia is very different from her big-hearted, big-haired sister, and as she flies back and forth between California and Ohio, she reflects on the choices she has made in long, searching letters to friends and family. Though she and her ex-boyfriend Michael, a painter living in New Mexico, are still in love with each other, they are both too devoted to their careers to settle down together. Just as it seems things might be patched up between them, Don Quixote
swings into high gear and Olivia heads off to film in Spain. Her Hollywood adventures are pitch-perfect and hilarious, with Robin Williams ("like a beaver in a sweatshirt and jeans") and Jerry Bruckheimer, among others, making cameos. No less impressive is Robinson's unsentimental chronicling of the progress of Maddie's illness and the alternately heroic and selfish reactions of those around her, including the sisters' mother, an anxious children's book writer, and their father, a retired attorney and alcoholic. Olivia's cynicism, compassion and loyalty come through as funny, real and inspiring, and the novel's epistolary format is smoothly employed. Moving but never maudlin, this is an accomplished debut. 10-city author tour.
(Jan. 7)

Forecast:
Robinson's novel is clearly autobiographical—her own sister suffered from leukemia, and Robinson herself once worked on a movie project based on
Don Quixote (it never got off the ground). The publisher's 100,000-copy printing might seem ambitious, but the story's intensity and honesty should captivate readers. 10-city author tour.

August 1, 2003
This epistolary tale by a screenwriter/producer takes readers inside two complex worlds: the contemporary movie business and the mind of Olivia Hunt, a single filmmaker negotiating major life changes. Unemployed and abandoned by a longtime lover, Olivia is desperately pulling career strings when she receives tragic news from her hometown. Shawnee Falls, OH, has meant family stability, where parents and younger sister Madeleine maintain traditions and treasure memories (the book's title refers to linked stories Olivia created for Maddie throughout childhood). Now, Maddie's leukemia diagnosis has shattered the happy routine. Olivia must assume the unaccustomed role of family manager just as her screenplay goes into production, and she finds herself literally flying between Hollywood glitz and the devastation of cancer. The tragicomic story unfolds in a series of lively letters written by Olivia to friends, family, and business associates between visits to Midwestern hospitals, West Coast meetings, and European film sets. Anyone who has juggled competing obligations of the heart will appreciate the dilemmas depicted in this admirable debut novel.-Starr E. Smith, Fairfax Cty. P.L., VA

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2003
Robinson mixes Hollywood politics and sisterly affection in her moving, engaging debut novel. Olivia Hunt is trying to make it as a producer in Hollywood, but it's not going well. She's working with an extremely difficult director on a version of " Don Quixote" that somehow must be true to the book " and" commercially appealing. Things get much, much worse when Olivia learns that her younger sister, Maddie, has been diagnosed with leukemia. Maddie has chosen a very different life than Olivia; she's happily married and still living in the Ohio town they grew up in. Maddie is young and strong, and Olivia is determined to be upbeat for her sister, and herself. When the studio she used to work for (and was fired from) picks up the " Quixote" film, and Robin Williams and John Cleese sign on to star in it, Olivia's star appears to be ascendant. She also seems to have a shot at winning back Michael, the handsome ex-boyfriend she can't seem to leave behind. But when Maddie takes a turn for the worse and the movie hits a stumbling block, Olivia must be the strong one for her family, and somehow keep her movie afloat. Sparkling with humor and beauty, the novel is ultimately a testament to the bond between the sisters, and the strength of both Olivia and Maddie.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)