Touching vignettes of everyday life and romance on the American frontier.
In Simar’s historical novel, homesteaders in the Dakota Territories seek love and community in the changing landscape of late-19th-century America.
Digger Dancy is nearing the end of his time sitting on his claim in the Dakota Territories before winning the land from the government. He and his brother, George, suffer through their fifth winter on their neighboring claims living in their “sodd[ies].” This winter has been especially hard on George, whom Digger had to convince to leave their home (and their overbearing mother) back east in Iowa. Digger decides the two should put out an ad for a wife in the Montana Matrimonial News to cure George’s loneliness. The narrative also follows several other homesteaders who reside in the area surrounding the small town of Nickelbo; The text recalls John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row with its short-story-like structure charting the lives of various members of the small community. Olava Wick, whom the townspeople refer to as “Doctor Gamla,” is another significant character. Olava is an elderly midwife who takes on most of the medical needs of Nickelbo, aside from the occasional amputation performed by the barber, Civil War veteran Stubby. The townspeople (mostly) affectionately refer to Olava as a witch, an epithet she does little to shirk. Olava’s catchphrase—“My cures work if you can stand them”— is proven true each time she helps a homesteader with matters of health or the heart. One of the most engaging aspects of the novel is the characters’ interactions with major historical events, such as Prohibition and North Dakota achieving statehood. While Prohibition is mostly discussed by the men (who are typically opposed) in the story, the women who are pro-Prohibition are not looked down upon. The only unfortunate characterization in the book is that of Indigenous Americans, who are mostly absent from the narrative. When they are mentioned, it is disparagingly, such as when a child is described screaming “as if he were being scalped by Red Indians.” Apart from this, the novel is successful as an affirmation of the importance of community and connection in the human experience.
Touching vignettes of everyday life and romance on the American frontier.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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