A bracing portrayal of war in all its macabre reality.
A Canadian drone operator in Afghanistan struggles to maintain his own humanity in the midst of war in Jones’ novel.
Jones is an officer in the Canadian Navy deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, as one of the small number of Canadians there taking part in the American-led Operation Enduring Freedom. He is a drone operator, charged with eliminating enemy combatants from afar, guided less by moral restraint than a diligent regard for the rules of engagement. His superior Bell is less cautious and pines to let the bombs fly, almost killing a young boy they nickname Sahar (they nickname most of their targets) for the crime of suspiciously filling a sack with potatoes. Everywhere, Jones sees the ravages of war and violence (he witnesses a woman savagely stoned for her alleged adultery) and wrestles with the toll all of this exacts on his soul. (“I have forgotten how to human.”) He becomes the caretaker of a bizarre man he meets on base—he is not a soldier and resembles some sort of “tremendous gorilla-bear.” Jones nicknames him Bigfoot, though his actual name is Noah. Keeping Noah safe and hidden from the authorities is foolishly imprudent, but it’s an act of moral compassion that feels redemptive to Jones. The author artfully juxtaposes the ugly and the beautiful in war—his protagonist falls in love with Jen, his major, but military rules prevent him from even hugging her; real romance is replaced by discreet “chess games.” Meanwhile, a rapist targets the men on base, tasing the soldiers into submission before he violates them. The author’s prose sometimes falters, trying too hard for some creative amalgam of clever and moving—when Jones encounters a terrible scene, he thinks to himself, “No—not like this. No. No NO NO NO. Rewind, damnit—rewind!” However, the strength of the novel is its unflinching look at the absurdity of modern war, which reduces the destruction of human beings to a video game; the chilling senselessness of this is intelligently captured. This is a disturbing work of fiction, but a worthwhile one.
A bracing portrayal of war in all its macabre reality.Pub Date: March 20, 2025
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Dec. 3, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.
A French art historian’s English-language fiction debut combines the story of a loving relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter with an enlightening discussion of art.
One day, when 10-year-old Mona removes the necklace given to her by her now-dead grandmother, she experiences a frightening, hour-long bout of blindness. Her parents take her to the doctor, who gives her a variety of tests and also advises that she see a psychiatrist. Her grandfather Henry tells her parents that he will take care of that assignment, but instead, he takes Mona on weekly visits to either the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, or the Centre Pompidou, where each week they study a single work of art, gazing at it deeply and then discussing its impact and history and the biography of its maker. For the reader’s benefit, Schlesser also describes each of the works in scrupulous detail. As the year goes on, Mona faces the usual challenges of elementary school life and the experiences of being an only child, and slowly begins to understand the causes of her temporary blindness. Primarily an amble through a few dozen of Schlesser’s favorite works of art—some well known and others less so, from Botticelli and da Vinci through Basquiat and Bourgeois—the novel would probably benefit from being read at a leisurely pace. While the dialogue between Henry and the preternaturally patient and precocious Mona sometimes strains credulity, readers who don’t have easy access to the museums of Paris may enjoy this vicarious trip in the company of a guide who focuses equally on that which can be seen and the context that can’t be. Come for the novel, stay for the introductory art history course.
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798889661115
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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