Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid: A review

Carrie Soto was not a particularly likable character. Single-minded and driven, her one focus in life from the age of two had been tennis. It was at that age that her father, Javier, began training her to be a tennis champion. He, himself, had been a professional tennis player and he was determined that he would make his daughter the best that the world had ever seen.

He succeeded almost beyond his dreams. Carrie had a storied career in which she shattered all records. She earned twenty Grand Slam titles and had every right to rest on those laurels. But then at the age of thirty-seven, six years after her retirement, she watches as a young player named Nicki Chan is on the verge of taking her record from her. Carrie cannot bear it! She makes the unprecedented decision to come out of retirement and try to reclaim her record, once again coached by her father.

Carrie really has nothing in her life besides tennis. She has no friends beyond her father and her devoted agent, Gwen. Other than tennis, "love" for her has only meant a series of one-night stands. She's never had a serious romantic relationship with a man, or, for that matter, with a woman.

Bowe Huntley is one of the men with whom she has a past. He, too, is now a struggling tennis player trying to hang onto the sport after finally getting sober and going through various personal trials in his life. Bowe is being trained by Javier and Carrie, reluctantly, agrees to train with him. She will not become friends with him but they will work together to be the best at the sport that has consumed their life.

Well, of course, you must realize where this is headed. Carrie and Bowie do become friends and much more than that and Carrie learns that perhaps there is more to life than tennis and perhaps she can find happiness and fulfillment in other places than on a tennis court.

In reading reviews of this book, I was reminded that Carrie actually made an appearance in another of Reid's books, Malibu Rising, which also happens to be on my "to-read" list. (For some reason, I thought I had already read it, but when I looked at the link, I realized I hadn't.) Carrie is a terrific - if unlikeable - character and I can understand why Reid would return to her. Over the course of this book, she actually does become somewhat more sympathetic and likable, so will we see her again in future Reid books? I wouldn't bet against it.

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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