An immersive family tale with a slightly retro feel.
A family’s long-simmering tensions boil over during a trip to the old homestead in this literary novel.
Sept. 25, 1945. In the town of Navsari, India, lies Truth Bungalow, the formerly stately home of the wealthy Sanjana family. The Sanjanas no longer live there, but on this particular day, the family finds itself back to visit the pet tiger who resides in one of the rooms. Dolly is the family matriarch: the widow of Kavas and current wife of his younger brother, Phiroze, who lost an arm in World War I. Dolly has two adult sons: Sohrab by her first husband and Rustom by her second. The half brothers (and cousins) are as different as night and day: Sohrab is fair and prickly, English-educated with an English wife, Daisy Holiday, while Rustom is dark and scarred by his service in the more recent World War. As they sit in the garden discussing the perennial tensions of India, the back story of each of the family members is slowly revealed. Like their country, the tale of the Sanjanas is one of rises, stumbles, and redefinitions; like many families, the story is one of parentage, resentment, and legacy. All the while, the pet tiger, Victoria, lurks nearby like the hand of fate itself—and she is quite a bit larger than she used to be. Desai’s prose is fluid and exact, sketching the complex spaces that his characters inhabit. Here, a teenage Daisy watches the king of England parade down the street from the shoulders of a stranger: “Daisy felt she lived in three worlds: first, in London; next, in the presence of the King; and finally on the shoulders of a strange man who bore her as easily as if she were a child. The procession moved slowly, but seemed over in an instant. Raised above the crowd she had imagined the King waved for her alone.” The book is written in a mannered style that evokes the time period, and while the plot goes certain places that readers will expect, the author provides some surprises as well. The result is a wide-lensed meditation on power dynamics—within countries and within families.
An immersive family tale with a slightly retro feel.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 390
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2021
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
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
SEEN & HEARD
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