Politics are personal in this dramatic story of a sister determined not to lose her brother to the capitalist West.
In this 1963 novel by award-winning East German author Reimann (1933-1973), family love is tested by idealism and ideology in a divided Germany.
Elisabeth and her brother Uli have been close since their shared childhood marked by World War II and the arrival of the Red Army. In their 20s now, something has come between them: “I’ll never forgive you,” Uli tells his sister as the book opens. Narrated from Elisabeth’s point of view, the novel artfully omits his reason, flashing back instead to show us who they are and how they arrived at this impasse. An artist, Elisabeth leads a workers art group at a briquette factory. Uli’s an engineer. Neither are members of the Communist Party. Though Elisabeth has had conflicts with the party at her job, she believes in socialism and is committed to their country. Their eldest brother, Konrad, who defected to the West two years before, calls the German Democratic Republic “a few square kilometres of impoverished countryside. A government propped up by the Soviets.” Elisabeth can’t stand him: “I told myself that the whole myth of sibling love, that blood runs thicker than water, was just mystical nonsense...I was not going to put my arms around a defector, just because he happened to be my brother.” She wishes her peers had higher ideals: In the years just after the war, she thinks, “we had eyes to see the rise of the new red order.” Uli is less convinced: “We were ridiculously young and ridiculously passionate and ridiculously ignorant.” Now, he says, “I feel like a prisoner trapped behind bars, just stupidity and bureaucracy everywhere.” Detailed and nuanced, Reimann’s work brings a historical moment convincingly to life. Endnotes provide helpful context.
Politics are personal in this dramatic story of a sister determined not to lose her brother to the capitalist West.Pub Date: Feb. 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-945492-66-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Transit Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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
SEEN & HEARD
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.
A French art historian’s English-language fiction debut combines the story of a loving relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter with an enlightening discussion of art.
One day, when 10-year-old Mona removes the necklace given to her by her now-dead grandmother, she experiences a frightening, hour-long bout of blindness. Her parents take her to the doctor, who gives her a variety of tests and also advises that she see a psychiatrist. Her grandfather Henry tells her parents that he will take care of that assignment, but instead, he takes Mona on weekly visits to either the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, or the Centre Pompidou, where each week they study a single work of art, gazing at it deeply and then discussing its impact and history and the biography of its maker. For the reader’s benefit, Schlesser also describes each of the works in scrupulous detail. As the year goes on, Mona faces the usual challenges of elementary school life and the experiences of being an only child, and slowly begins to understand the causes of her temporary blindness. Primarily an amble through a few dozen of Schlesser’s favorite works of art—some well known and others less so, from Botticelli and da Vinci through Basquiat and Bourgeois—the novel would probably benefit from being read at a leisurely pace. While the dialogue between Henry and the preternaturally patient and precocious Mona sometimes strains credulity, readers who don’t have easy access to the museums of Paris may enjoy this vicarious trip in the company of a guide who focuses equally on that which can be seen and the context that can’t be. Come for the novel, stay for the introductory art history course.
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798889661115
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
