Book reviews

Needing Jackie
Dennis J. Novak Book Review

Read a book review online (click here to search reviews)
Books Movies  
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Mystery/Thriller Literature Romance Biography Video
Dennis J. Novak Books
New book search
Dennis J. Novak Message Board
Get more information about this book
Plot Summary of Needing Jackie
"Overwhelmed with despair from the breast-cancer-caused death of her mother, eighteen-year-old Jacqueline Shelly fled her Iowa home, arriving almost penniless on the coast of France. This desperate trip to Mont Saint Michel has proved fruitless; she remains convinced the cancer that killed her beloved mother will one day appear and claim her as well; life holds nothing for her.

Pondering suicide on a cold, lonely beach in Trouville, unexpected help comes from two strangers who are both taken with the beautiful girl: Lynda, a young and lonely Danish woman, and Paul, a gifted painter and a Swiss national almost twice their age. Their love gives Jackie the courage to set aside her planned suicide, and search for happiness and meaning.

Jackie submits to Lynda's lesbian desires, but her own needs require Paul's love, and with that accomplished, Jackie seeks her next goal. She works to convince Lynda to take Paul as a lover. Jackie's sole desire is to see Lynda marry Paul and live the life she could never have. Everything unravels for the trio when Regina, a friend of Paul's, invites them all to her luxurious home on Lake Geneva, where Paul's former affair with this married woman is revealed. Blackmailed by Bernie, Regina's powerful and manipulative husband, Paul has no choice but to accept an illegal and dangerous job working for him.

The deep love and commitment Jackie shares with Paul, Lynda and Regina holds them together as they begin rebuilding their lives on the French Riviera, but enduring months of Jackie's endless concerns about getting cancer takes an ever increasing toll on Lynda's health, and when Lynda's former lesbian lover arrives, Lynda reaches out to her. "

Dennis Novak, Resident Scholar




Get your copy of the book

Review Analysis of Needing Jackie
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - 1980's-1999
Romance/Romance Problems Yes
Kind of romance: - love triangle/polygon
Internal struggle/realization? Yes
Struggle over - dying
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Love problems? - lesbianism!!!!

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - unemployed
Age: - a teen
Eccentric/Mental Yes
Eccentric: - emotionally unstable
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - wealthy
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 ()
Europe Yes
European country: - France - Switzerland
Misc setting - fancy mansion

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - touching of anatomy - licking - lesbians! - actual description of hetero sex - descript. of female anat. (the big B's) - descript. of female anat. (the big V)
Unusual Style: - No single main character?
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
Most similar books to Needing Jackie
Venus Envy by Rita Mae Brown
Stir-Fry by Emma Donoghue
The Passionate Mistakes and Intimate Corruptions of One Girl in America by Michelle Tea
She Is Me by Cathleen Schine
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson


Click here for more information about this book


Dennis J. Novak Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Dennis Novak  

SCHOLARS:


Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
Three ways to search for Literature books!

1) One-click plot searches! Simply click on a plot or subplot below!

Animal story

Crime & Police story

Ethnic/regional/gender life

Exploring into the wild

Family, caring for ill

Family, loving relations

Family, struggle with

Internal struggle/realization?

Job/Profession/Status story

Kids growing up/acting up?

Political/social activism

Poverty, surviving

Pregnancy/Child rearing

Religion theme?

Romance/Romance Problems

Sports Story?

War/Revolt/Disaster on civilians



or 2) Simple lookup
(title or author)

or
3) Even more search options available with a Detailed Booksearch (click here)

Use our site!
17 FREE Sci-Fi Ebooks!
FREE "How to be happy" Ebook!
Feedback


Most recent discussions:

General Book Talk
Book writing discussion
Off-topic message board
Suzanne Weyn 4:47:34 PM
Wilma Counts 1:23:32 PM
Norah Lofts 6:49:46 PM
George W. Bush 5:33:46 PM
Kin Platt 12:58:29 AM
Anonymous 12:47:34 PM
Lilian Jackson Braun 10:05:52 PM
Jane Rubino 10:04:38 PM
LaVyrle Spencer 10:04:00 PM
G.A. McKevett 10:03:31 PM
David Williams 10:03:01 PM
Steven Pressfield 10:02:30 PM
Jeanette Walls 10:00:19 PM
Darryl Ponicsan 9:59:27 PM
Ann Rinaldi 9:58:30 PM
R.L. Stine 9:57:34 PM
Geoffrey Huntington 9:57:14 PM
Betty Mahmoody 9:56:38 PM
Deric Longden 9:56:11 PM
Mary Downing Hahn 9:55:48 PM

More message boards