Another impressive book by one of the country’s most talented authors of comic fiction.
Five millennial friends navigate love and loss in the early days of Covid-19.
The five 30-something people at the heart of Martin’s latest novel are far from perfect, but they’re trying their best—most of them, anyway. There’s Boston writer Aaron—“smart and kind and endlessly curious when he was sober, and a weeping, pants-pissing maniac when he got drunk”—who has just been released from a rehab center and relapses less than 24 hours later, much to the consternation of his partner, Cassandra, a teacher who forgives his infidelity and addiction because “he was, alas, interesting.” Malcolm, a smart if a bit pretentious writer and professor, splits his time between Boston, where he teaches, and New York, where he lives with his partner, Violet, a doctor who finds herself losing patience with Malcolm’s series of existential crises. Finally, there’s Antonia, a teaching fellow who doesn’t know what she’ll do if she doesn’t get on the tenure track at Harvard—or, for that matter, what she’ll do if she does. Their lives are all thrown into disarray, first by the death of their mutual friend, Sam, a charming punk who’s killed after being hit by a car, and then by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, which strains their jobs and living arrangements. Martin writes about his characters with a mix of affection and bemusement; as he demonstrated in his earlier books, Early Work (2018) and Cool for America (2020), he has an impressive psychological insight, understanding why people make decisions that they know will be bad for them, and why love and attraction can be so stubbornly capricious. Crucially, this is also a very funny novel: In one scene, characters watch a “silly news show hosted by the high-handed Englishman who pretended he was flabbergasted by American politics and, like, the existence of hamburgers.” This is a wonderfully charming novel.
Another impressive book by one of the country’s most talented authors of comic fiction.Pub Date: March 10, 2026
ISBN: 9780374617066
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
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
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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