Contemporary romance for cynics and nihilists.
A harrowing descent into the New Lagos.
Aima thought that she and Kalu were building a life together when they moved to the United States, but his unwillingness to marry becomes more than her faith can bear. After she ends their relationship, they travel home together. It’s Friday evening when Aima and Kalu touch down in Nigeria and go their separate ways. Aima reconnects with an old friend, and giving in to one temptation after another leads her into an underworld she didn’t even know existed. Kalu also reaches out to someone from his past, thinking he knows what he’s getting into when he shows up at one of Ahmed’s exclusive sex parties. All he wants is to forget about Aima for a while, but he ends his evening by making an enemy of a pastor with a following of millions and a taste for domination. Several significant characters weave in and out of this narrative, but none of them can escape the cruelty and hypocrisy of Nigeria’s most populous city as this author depicts it. As they did in The Death of Vivek Oji (2020), Emezi offers a grim vision of what it means to be queer in a culture in which same-sex love is outlawed. Similarly, Emezi presents a culture in which it seems like the only women who are allowed to express their sexuality are sex workers and in which sex work is the surest route to financial independence for a woman—if it doesn’t destroy her. Overall, though, this novel feels more like You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty (2022) than its predecessor. Drama, mystery, beautiful clothes, expensive cars, explosive sex…these are all the hallmarks of a particular brand of escapist fiction, but Emezi takes readers to an abyss from which there is no escape.
Contemporary romance for cynics and nihilists.Pub Date: June 18, 2024
ISBN: 9780525541639
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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