Each character comes alive in this rich, dynamic novel.
A somewhat fictionalized account of “Gibson Girl” Evelyn Nesbit’s tumultuous fortunes, with a wholly invented ending worthy of the protagonist’s talents.
In recent years we’ve seen a lot of attention given to the highborn and/or very rich of the late-19th and early-20th centuries: Think Downton Abbey, The Gilded Age, The Buccaneers, many of them focused on privileged and protected young women. Author Pataki has chosen to focus instead on a singular girl, Evelyn Talbot, originally from the mining town of Tarentum, Pennsylvania, whose stunning beauty leads her to work as an artist’s model by age 13: First for a Pittsburgh painter named Leah Dawson, then posing as an angel for a Louis Comfort Tiffany window, and eventually inspiring Charles Dana Gibson’s drawing Woman: The Eternal Question, with the pouf-y hairstyle that fixed “The Gibson Girl” in history. Evelyn’s surname has been changed from her real one of Nesbit, and a few other historical figures have also been renamed, because this Evelyn’s trajectory will deliberately vary from her historical counterpart’s. Her ambition and the family’s financial precarity lead her to audition for stage roles, eventually becoming a sought-after singer, dancer, and actor who attracts the attention of men and women—and in the rigid society of the early 1900s, she receives scores of offers from men wishing to “protect” her. Evelyn and her mother experience both great luxury and terrible treatment at the hands of powerful men, first Stanley Pierce (based on celebrated architect Stanford White) and then Hal Thorne (based on playboy Harry Thaw), whose lives become entangled and end tragically. Evelyn’s alternate fate might be a feminist sleight of hand, yet as an author’s note explains, “What if I give Evelyn the opportunity to reclaim her own agency, even to rewrite her own ending?” It’s a worthy goal for a novel, and ultimately a very satisfying one, as well.
Each character comes alive in this rich, dynamic novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2026
ISBN: 9780593873410
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
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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