Doesn’t quite rise to the legacy it aspires to.
A genderfluid governess becomes embroiled in a family’s troubled past in this debut novel.
Bron, who uses he/him pronouns and experiments with his gender representation by dressing in romantic vintage fashions, is fixated on Victorian literature, particularly the works of Jane Austen and the Brontës, taking as his name Brontë Ellis in a nod to sister Emily. When he's offered a position as governess to a 9-year-old girl, Ada, in Cambridgeshire at the aristocratic-sounding Greenwood Manor, he jumps at the chance to make his fantasies of living in the stories he loves a reality. While the manor itself is as grand as he could imagine and his boss, Mr. Edwards, is welcoming and accepting of Bron’s identity, a sense of unease prevails. Ada is oddly precocious and her standoffish older brother, Darcy, at times seems to enjoy needling Bron about the way he dresses. Despite this, Bron finds himself drawn to Darcy, who seems to reciprocate the feelings, particularly after he tells Bron that he's gay. When a fire breaks out unexpectedly in the manor’s library, family secrets begin to come to the surface, including Mr. Edwards’ difficulties accepting his son’s sexuality with the grace and open-mindedness he has shown Bron. As Bron learns more about the family he lives with and works for, it becomes clear that not everyone is who they claim. Castle is clearly a scholar of English literature, borrowing themes and motifs from campus novels, aristocratic satires, romantic novels like Pride and Prejudice, and gothic works like Jane Eyre. But the novel is too intent on making those connections clear; Castle telegraphs them with prolonged conversations on literature and Bron’s own realizations of connections both large and small to fictional works, failing to meet the seeming goal of creating a queer addition to any of the genres the book focuses on. The modern timeframe is also a stumbling point; the Brideshead-esque setting and the eccentricities of the Edwards family are anachronistic and sudden mentions of Facebook are jarring.
Doesn’t quite rise to the legacy it aspires to.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781639105601
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Alcove Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 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
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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