Kristin Gore

As a big fan of all things Gore, it gives me no pleasure to pronounce Sweet Jiminy, well, a train wreck. I don't know what happened. I read Ms. Gore's debut, Sammy's Hill, several years ago. It was flawed, but at least entertaining. This one is flawed, and notably unentertaining.

Here's the story: Out of the blue, one day 25-year-old Jiminy Davis up and decides that the life of a Chicago law student is not for her. Not knowing what else to do with herself, or where to turn, she shows up at show more the door of her maternal grandmother, Willa Hunt, in Fayeville, Mississippi. While there, she embarks upon an interracial romance, and generally gets the town good and stirred up. One of her discoveries during this period is that she was named after an earlier Jiminy. That Jiminy was the daughter of her grandmother's friend/maid, Lyn. Teenage Jiminy and her father Edward were murdered in a brutal and unsolved hate crime back in 1966. When contemporary Jiminy starts digging into the past, most citizens of Fayeville clam up tight. So, she brings in outside help in the form of Hispanic truth-finder Carlos Casteverde. Because, of course, once the truth is finally brought to light, the hate that has poisoned this town for decades will finally be exorcised.

Does that sound like some sort of unholy John Grisham/Harper Lee mash-up? I only wish. On the plus side, the novel is mercifully short. However, that may be its biggest flaw. The story jumps around from POV to POV, constantly, and with jarring abruptness. One moment a character is fighting for their life in the hospital. The next, they're back at home and on their feet again, with absolutely no transition or explanation between the two. If one were being extremely charitable, one might describe the novel as episodic, but the episodes aren't particularly interesting, and Gore does nothing to hook her audience into continued reading.

Additionally, in the space of 240 pages, a huge cast of characters is introduced, but most are insufficiently fleshed out to differentiate them. Despite the heavy (some might say clichéd) subject matter, there are out of place comedy elements present, making me wonder in passing if it was all some kind of satire I really, really wasn't getting? Even the romantic subplot at the heart of the novel was a dismal, ridiculous failure.

Oh well, I would have read this in no time flat--if I didn't keep falling asleep. On a sunny Sunday afternoon. I'm not kidding. (I still love you, Al Gore!) show less

A rare sequel: maybe even funnier than the fabulous Sammy's Hill!: I loved Sammy's Hill, and didn't imagine that Sammy's House could compare. I do love a pleasant surprise, though, and Sammy's House certainly is one. Full of belly laughs like its predecessor, it's also rich with juicy insights from a real Washington - and White House - insider.

Ms. Gore seems to have pulled quite directly from her own experiences (though I have a feeling that the real day-to-day of the White House, show more especially these days, might not be quite as funny as Sammy's [White] House). Samantha Joyce manages not only to be save-the-day smart, but made me feel empowered. I mean, if she can accomplish so much in the face of such an astonishing list of neuroses, imagine what I could do if I put my mind to it :)

One warning: don't pick this one up when you don't have much time. "Sammy's House" is a page-turner you won't want to put down. Viva la Sammy! show less

Jiminy was halfway through law school when she realized that wasn't the life for her, so she retreated to her grandmother's home in small-town Mississippi for some quiet time to reconsider her life. She didn't find much quiet--instead she learned that racism is alive and well in the rural south. She also learned of the existence of another Jiminy who had died long ago at a far too early age--killed by locals who preferred to sweep the murders of Jiminy and her father under the carpet. Come show more to find out, when black people died in those days, it didn't make the papers! With the help of Carlos, a reporter whose specialty was "cold cases", and Bo, a pre-med student that Jiminy finds herself falling for, Jiminy sets out to solve the mystery of these long-ago murders. Along the way she steps on the toes of the local bigwigs, and finds herself in danger.

The characters in Sweet Jiminy are especially strong. From Jiminy and Bo to the ailing elderly politician and his scheming son to the racist town fathers, every one of them stands out as an individual. Gore's writing is fine--she carries the reader right along, believing the story as well as the characters and setting. It's a quick, accessible read, but not a light one, by any means. Gore's got a winner here! show less

Sammy’s House, by Kristen Gore, is a sequel to Sammy’s Hill, and it picks up nearly two years after where the first one left off. Sammy is a low-on-the-food-chain white house official who specializes in health care and reports to the vice president, RG. She is still dating Charley, a reporter for the Washington Post, she still rooms with her relationship-challenged friend Liza, and she still obsesses over keeping her Japanese fighting fish alive.
But some stuff has changed. While Sammy is show more still prone to putting herself in embarrassing situations and making cringe-worthy gaffs, she isn’t as Lucile Ballish as she was in the first book. In fact, it’s completely understandable why this woman would be a valued member of the vice president’s staff; she’s loyal, hard-working, and competent.
But here is where Kristen Gore’s skill as a writer shines. She has created a loveable, funny, and smart character in Sammy, and she does so with aplomb. So many times I have read books about heroines who are supposed to super-intelligent, and I feel hit over the head with proclamations by the author about how genius the heroine is. (The Jessica Darling books by Megan McCafferty come to mind...) In contrast, Gore never ever tells us that Sammy is smart; instead, she includes us in Sammy’s thought process, which covers everything from healthcare reform, made-up holidays, interpersonal insights, and neurotic anxieties. Sammy’s brain is always in overdrive, and I find myself at once laughing and feeling in awe of how her mind works.
I’ll admit it; when I first heard that Kristen Gore got a book deal I was jealous and bitter. I was sure she was one more example of an undeserving author succeeding purely based off her connections. But then I checked out her first book from the library on a whim, and I realized how wrong I was. Sammy’s House is just as good as her first book, if not better.
In this one we learn about the inner-workings of the White House as Sammy becomes unwillingly privy to confidential information that could bring the administration she’s working for down. In addition, she’s struggling in her relationship after Charley moves to New York. With the perfect balance of political intrigue and romance, Sammy’s House is book not to be missed! show less