Bernadette “Bernie” Sheridan, has the Carlos Lunas case in the bag. She’s smart, confident, and fueled by personal tragedy. She knows all too well what’s at stake for the six-year-old, Mexican-American boy, who lost his parents to a drunk driver. After all, her own mother and father—her adopted parents—died tragically when she was only thirteen, and she’s been struggling with the emotional loss ever since. Now, nearing forty and jaded as ever, she’s adamant about saving Carlos from a fate similar to her own, even if only by winning him a healthy monetary settlement. Even if it means she must harken back to a painful childhood in order to do so.
There are other obstacles waiting for a hotshot, misogynist defense attorney will challenge her case; her beloved grandmother’s deteriorating health will threaten her only semblance of family; and a handsome economist will begin to test her iron-clad vulnerability. Surely, she’ll be able to forge past all this chaos. For Carlos’s sake. But what will happen when her birth mother, Julie, tries to reenter the picture thirty-seven years after giving her away? Will Bernie decide to toss that aside too, on her martyrly mission for justice? Meeting Julie may be just the thing Bernie needs to win the Lunas case in the end. And learning her harrowing story may also provide the missing piece in the tragic puzzle of her haunted childhood.
Told through the verging, alternating viewpoints of two broken women in two different eras, The Circle Game is at once a thoughtful commentary on female agency, racial bias, and domestic abuse, as well as a nuanced novel wrought with literary heft and profound psychological tension.
“Tanya Nichols’ The Circle Game sets two memorable characters on a collision Bernadette, an idealistic attorney overwhelmed by courtroom challenges and more personal questions of identity and purpose; and Julie, her anonymous birth mother, whose story unfolds decades earlier in a dingy trailer parked behind a biker bar. Nichols’ prose consistently grabs the reader with its lyrical clarity, and implicates us in the lives of complex and engaging characters. The novel moves us deeply in all the best ways...” --John Hales, author of Shooting A Personal Survey in the American West
“California's great Central Valley long has been fertile ground for novelists eager to write about immigrants, busted dreams and the moral questions facing real people in their everyday lives. With The Circle Game, where the ghosts of the past lurk in the corners of every chapter, Tanya Nichols zeroes in on good intentions that lead to fatal consequences. It's a tale of families, motorcycle outlaws, lovers, and redemption. You won't soon forget it.” --Bill McEwen, GV Wire
“The Circle Game has the power to show us that, even after years of great tragedy and loneliness, only forgiveness can open the circle of family and let in those we need most.” -- Kristin FitzPatrick, author of My Pulse is and Earthquake
GNab I love the way these two stories - Bernie's memories and her current legal case - are interwoven. There is a very distinct line when going from one story to another. The older I get the more I appreciate just such care. It is no fun if you have to backtrack over and over to see who's perspective you are now viewing this story from.... Thank you Tanya Nichols!
That said, this is an excellent tale, a fast read, and very heartwarming. It is a perfect Christmas/Easter tale, in that forgiveness is the best spice when tasting the future - or the past.
I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Tanya Nichols, and Alternative Book Press, Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.
pub date March 29, 2018 Alternative Book Press, Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction
Bernie is a successful, yet idealistic attorney who takes on the Carlos Luna case. Carlos is a little five-year-old boy whose parents were killed by a reckless driver. This case is very close to Bernie's heart since she also lost her adoptive parents when she was just thirteen years old, and because of the struggles she went through as a child, Bernie is determined to win Carlos a fair settlement for his loss.
Bernie's only family is her beloved grandmother Noni. And although Bernie has always longed to know more about her biological parents, grandma Noni has never encouraged Bernie to seek out her biological mother. Now, thirty-seven years later Bernie's biological mother Julie threatens to re-enter her life and everything she thought she knew about herself is about to change.
The narrative is told from two viewpoints. One is Bernie's account of the present day and the other is Julie's account of decades ago. The Circle Game is a beautiful novel with well-developed characters and a heartwarming plot about the power of forgiveness.
I would like to thank Alternative Book Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
The Circle Game by Tanya Nichols tells the story of Bernadette Sheridan, who lost her adoptive parents in a tragic violent act when she was 13. Raised by her grandmother, she goes on to become a lawyer, specializing in monetary compensation for children orphaned by the reckless acts of others. As she gets older, she is drawn to understanding her past and the mother who gave her up for adoption, but is held back by her grandmother who is dead set against her doing so. The story is told from two perspectives, Bernadette's and her birth mother Julie. I particularly liked the chapters told by Julie which were full of emotion. Bernadette was a bit "stiff" for me, and I didn't make as much of a connection with her as I did Julie. However, it is a heartwarming story about the circle of life. Thank you Netgalley and publishers for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
This story unfolded like a map. I was most pleased that it took place in my hometown. The author mapped the course of the characters lives through streets and places I knew so well. It was such an unexpected surprise. I found all the characters interesting and their story lines surprising.