The Orphans of Race Point

Starred review from May 15, 2014

Like Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, this sprawling second novel by Massachusetts author Francis (The Liar's Diary) starts out with a traumatic incident involving a young boy befriended by a girl and expands from there into a Dickensian story in which criminals with murky motives mingle casually with the pure of heart. But instead of London or New York City, the tangled lives of the two motherless children, Gus and Hallie, and their friend, Neil, unfold on the beaches and narrow streets of Provincetown, on the outermost tip of Cape Cod, and in the seacoast city of New Bedford, MA. Fate lies heavily on the characters, as the book explores fatherhood, inheritance, human behavior, and the aspects of ourselves that can be changed. VERDICT Steeped in sea air and completely ignoring the tourist season, this story captures the essence of year-round life on the Cape and the Portuguese Catholic traditions of New Bedford fishermen as its themes of passionate treachery and abiding love play out in sometimes heartbreaking ways. Recommend to readers wondering what to read after The Goldfinch.--Laurie Cavanaugh, Holmes P.L., Halifax, MA

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 1, 2014
Gus Silva is just nine years old when his mother is killed by Gus' abusive father, marking the boy forever and leaving him desolate with grief and inexpressible guilt. Only the assistance of classmate Hallie Costa, daughter of widower Dr. Nick, pulls Gus from depression. Years later, after star football player Gus has become known as Voodoo for his winning charm, he and Hallie finally yield to what seems a lifelong love, until an incident at a beach party after the senior prom leaves Hallie seriously injured and causes Gus to join the priesthood. But even Father Gus can't shake a reputation for violence, leading to his wrongful conviction for murdering Ava Cilento, an abused woman who sought Gus' counsel to protect her young daughter, then accused him of assault when she ended their alleged affair. As this epic spans decades, the third-person narration yields to the first-person account of teenager Mila Cilento, Ava's daughter, who uncovers the truth of what happened years earlier. By the author of The Liar's Diary (2007), this beautifully wrought novel is a sometimes wrenching but ultimately uplifting story of murder and betrayal in the face of faith, family in its truest sense, andmost of alllove.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)