A compelling and vivid portrait of a deceased spouse.
A widower chronicles his grief in this memoir.
After Polly Simmons died suddenly from a blood clot at the age of 43, her husband, Aaron, kept his wedding ring on and searched their house for signs of her ghost. “I want[ed] to travel through Time,” he writes. “I want[ed] to punch God in the mouth.” In this tribute to his late wife, Simmons interweaves excerpts from Polly’s private journals with his own memories of their marriage and an account of his struggles as a newly single parent. The structure creates an intimate dialogue between the living and the dead, further enriched by reproductions of Polly’s artistic work—the paintings and interior design that filled their shared home. This approach proves effective; Polly emerges as a vivid presence through her journals, her personality evident in her observations on subjects that range from mortality to menstruation to Victoria’s Secret underwear (“I know you’re trying to reflect just enough of the culture to sell more stuff, but you’re doing that by pretending to be part of the conversation. I thought it worth asking, are you going to talk to me?”). The author admirably avoids hagiography—Simmons presents their relationship with cleareyed honesty, acknowledging the imperfections alongside the love. His descriptions of taking on domestic tasks that Polly had seemed to manage effortlessly offer relatable moments for anyone who has experienced a similar loss, capturing both the mundane difficulties and profound disorientation that accompany the death of a spouse. However, the juxtaposition that gives the book its structure also highlights its central weakness: The author’s plainspoken prose, while earnest and moving, rarely matches the energy and insight of Polly’s more freewheeling writing. The imbalance becomes increasingly noticeable as the narrative progresses, leaving readers wishing for either more of Polly’s voice or greater depth from Simmons’ own reflections.
A compelling and vivid portrait of a deceased spouse.Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9798887840659
Page Count: 254
Publisher: Motina Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
The heartbreaking story of an emotionally battered child delivered with captivating candor and grace.
The former iCarly star reflects on her difficult childhood.
In her debut memoir, titled after her 2020 one-woman show, singer and actor McCurdy (b. 1992) reveals the raw details of what she describes as years of emotional abuse at the hands of her demanding, emotionally unstable stage mom, Debra. Born in Los Angeles, the author, along with three older brothers, grew up in a home controlled by her mother. When McCurdy was 3, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Though she initially survived, the disease’s recurrence would ultimately take her life when the author was 21. McCurdy candidly reconstructs those in-between years, showing how “my mom emotionally, mentally, and physically abused me in ways that will forever impact me.” Insistent on molding her only daughter into “Mommy’s little actress,” Debra shuffled her to auditions beginning at age 6. As she matured and starting booking acting gigs, McCurdy remained “desperate to impress Mom,” while Debra became increasingly obsessive about her daughter’s physical appearance. She tinted her daughter’s eyelashes, whitened her teeth, enforced a tightly monitored regimen of “calorie restriction,” and performed regular genital exams on her as a teenager. Eventually, the author grew understandably resentful and tried to distance herself from her mother. As a young celebrity, however, McCurdy became vulnerable to eating disorders, alcohol addiction, self-loathing, and unstable relationships. Throughout the book, she honestly portrays Debra’s cruel perfectionist personality and abusive behavior patterns, showing a woman who could get enraged by everything from crooked eyeliner to spilled milk. At the same time, McCurdy exhibits compassion for her deeply flawed mother. Late in the book, she shares a crushing secret her father revealed to her as an adult. While McCurdy didn’t emerge from her childhood unscathed, she’s managed to spin her harrowing experience into a sold-out stage act and achieve a form of catharsis that puts her mind, body, and acting career at peace.
The heartbreaking story of an emotionally battered child delivered with captivating candor and grace.Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-982185-82-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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