Tiger, Tiger

May 5, 2008
Craze’s sequel to By the Shore
is again told by the now teenage May, the levelheaded London girl coping with little brother Eden and wayward mother Lucy. When Lucy’s partner, Simon (depicted in By the Shore
as May’s biological father but not Eden’s), heads to India to buy goods for his London shop, Lucy heads to a California ashram, taking the siblings with her. There, all three’s hunger for love and approval leaves them vulnerable to exploitation. While Lucy works on her troubles with the guru, Parvati, May becomes involved with Sati, a seductive young woman whom Parvati favors. May often lacks some of the sharpness of observation and tone that makes By the Shore
so winning (particularly in the characterizations of fraud Parvati), but the scenes with Sati are frank and wonderful.

June 1, 2008
Craze's sequel to her debut novel, "By the Shore", outlines with mixed results the further adventures of flighty Lucy and her befuddled children, May and Eden. After yet another marital tiff, Lucy flees to a religious commune in California, dragging the children with her. Life with the charismatic guru Pavarti is peaceful at first, but as problems gradually arise, May becomes less and less sure that her family is headed in the right direction. Readers who enjoy problem novels will appreciate the pathos and poignancy with which Craze depicts the angst-ridden May, who serves as the poster child for what can go wrong for a teen without responsible parents. However, the lack of character development may frustrate some readers, as the family drifts from crisis to crisis, seemingly learning nothing. If, however, Craze is trying to make a statement about some people's inability to learn from their mistakes, she executes it beautifully, with heartfelt language and strong imagery. An interesting effort but recommended only for the largest fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 3/15/08.]Leigh Anne Vrabel, Carnegie Lib. of Pittsburgh

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