Customer Reviews

A Better View of Paradise: A Novel

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Landscape architect Stevie Pollack reels from two major failures, professional and personal--her beau dumps her and her Chicago project goes south. Who can't relate to big dreams derailed or a sense of loneliness that seems to defy relationships? I'm sympathetic to both, but what made me empathize with Stevie and read late into the night was her difficult relationship with her dying father, a father much like mine was, and the mystical power of Kauai, my favorite Hawaiian island.

I also loved this novel because the story is like life--big-hearted, emotional, messy and real. Coburn not only writes gorgeously, she sets a large, engrossing stage and puts her characters on it like John Irving and Pat Conroy do. I cheered for a full-blown, fully realized romance between Stevie and the quiet, handsome veterinarian Japhy. But I also wanted that querulous father to wake up to his daughter and show a little love as she desperately desires to connect with him before he dies.

Stevie tries everything to keep her father alive longer--from bringing the Cubs games to her dad via the internet to dealing positively with a branch of family that was kept secret from her. As she tries to keep her emotions in check to care for her dying father, she also struggles to overcome her failures and win her father's approval and love. Being home on Kauai brings back memories and draws forth Pele, the island's fiery goddess, who torches Stevie's imagination, bringing her home in a metaphysical way. When a homeless puppy appears, Stevie decides--even though it's hard enough caring for her father--to take on the responsibility because the puppy just might keep her father alive longer. Many things converge to help Stevie, but ultimately she learns that "what's no longer needed are . . . ways of being that have walled off hearts, choked imaginations, paralyzed energy." And the surprising way this happens feels like a fresh Hawaiian breeze and salt water swim, delivering a fully realized story with the power to heal.

RS Coburn has the knack of making her characters live, whether you are interested in their specific activities or not. The female landscape architect in A Better View of Paradise is much more complex than she appears to be, integrating her childhood experience of the physical land of Hawaii, her difficult but lovable father, her ideas of herself, and her real life tasks, as she grows in strength and self-knowledge within the book. Her difficult and crusty dad also opens and reveals himself in the context of his enormous love of baseball, as do the other players in the field.

Randy Sue Coburn speaks to an audience of literate but not snobby readers, integrating smart characters with their complete lives.

After reading the first book, I waited and searched for this one. Gladly, I was not disappointed. It is a lovely read - heartwarming and uplifting. Worth the wait!

The writing is beautiful, the emotions are real and, yeah, the sex is hot. Ms. Coburn mixes ancient mysticism and an intimate sense of place with modern dilemmas - career, an ailing, obstinate parent, the Chicago Cubs and whether an "it'll do" really will do - into a book you'll want to take to bed with you.

Reading it might not be the most satisfying thing you do in bed, but you could do worse.

As a devoted member of three book clubs, it's not often that I immediately care about the heroine of a new novel. But Stevie had my heart from Chapter One. Randy Sue Coburn's A Better View of Paradise then takes off with the kind of poise, attention to detail, emotional authenticity and straight-up fine cultural detail work that defies its "REDBOOK Red-Hot Summer Read" status. And yet, the story is, indeed, a red-hot read heated and honed by smoldering familial micro-dramas and the eternal (and eternally important) search for a mate. We know about these things. And Randy Sue's rendition rings true as true love. So does her astoundingly natural ear for dialogue. And when she evokes the fire-power of Madam Pele it's just the right touch of island enchantment...and girl-grit! Not to mention her super-smart throw-away lines. Now who would expect this in a "beach read": "The Welsh got all the consonants, but the Hawaiians got a better deal with all the vowels." That's because A Better View of Paradise is no beach read. It's a small masterpiece of intimate modern fiction that has you caring all the way to its bittersweet sweet ending, which I loved. And that's rare too, with all the cop-out gut-punches passing for literary conclusions these days. This book is #1 on my Christmas List for Smartest Girlfriends...and on my 2010 to-reads for all my book clubs!

This is a well crafted blend of Hawaiian culture and the power of the Goddess Pele with the true grit of the human relationship roller coaster. I loved the fine writing in Coburn's two other novels and the journey I took through reading them. So I rushed right out to buy "Paradise." Run, don't walk, to your nearest Indie book seller and do the same.

This is more than a beach read: it's a smart, tender, often funny portrait of a woman coming to terms with herself and her relationships, primarily in the beautifully described tropic lushness of Hawaii. As the plot unfolds, you see the sureness of Coburn's pacing, and her storytelling skills. These are characters that are fully-developed--people you want to spend time with...plus, a scruffy pup adds a bright dimension. I've read all of Coburn's novels, and after reading a Better View of Paradise, I'm excited to see what she writes next!

This is a lovely book, wonderfully constructed, strongly paced with terrific color and dialogue. The storyline is true and strong and the writing is polished, steady and spirited. "A Better View of Paradise" finds Randy Sue Coburn nearly dancing with the powers of her writing gifts. You will do very well to buy and enjoy this book. I strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a good story well told. Enjoying this, you will be looking forward eagerly for more from this graceful author who knows how to get to the reader's heart and mind.

Her Hawaiian upbringing has made thirty-six year old landscape architect Stevie Pollack very popular in the mainland as she brings a taste of the islands to her work. However, her latest effort in Chicago is universally scorned as pretentious rather than the natural exotic beauty she normally delivers, Stevie is stunned and hurt as she struggles with the criticisms something she never faced before. While in the Windy City, her cousin Margo informs her that her dad Hank has a sister he never mentioned to her. She returns to New York for solace with her lover, but he adds to her depression when he dumps her.

She debates with herself whether she should return to Hawaii. On the one hand she has not seen her father in ages, but their relationship was at best argumentative; however, she muses over the "swirling wonder" of the island with its calming waters and balmy land which has always soothed her soul. Following her discussions with Margo about the family and the dumping, Stevie knows you can go home if it is the right time; for her it is the right time.

Although overwhelmed with improbable happenings that ease Stevie's decisions like her learning her dad is dying or her meeting the hunk veterinarian, fans will enjoy this strong whimsical Hawaiian adventure filled with local lore and myths. Stevie is a likeable protagonist who holds the tale together in Chicago, New York, and Hawaii as she ponders the reflections of her life as more than just marmalade as she muses growing up with a cantankerous father and a stiff upper lip Brit mom. Fans will enjoy her return home as she knows it is not the same yet somehow in the bigger scheme, the island retains its mystical hold on her.

Harriet Klausner

I was so happy to get my hands on a new one from Randy Sue Coburn. And i wasn't disappointed! Beautiful writing that flows. Totally entrancing. This girl can write! The only thing disppointing is that now i have to wait for her NEXT one!