A quick read that packs in lots of heart and familial love.
Three sisters tackle questions of love, heartbreak, and forgiveness over the course of one summer in Dembowski’s novel.
Liz Madden thought she had a love story straight out of the movies with Julian, her husband and erstwhile childhood sweetheart. But when she discovers his affair after the letdown of a negative pregnancy test, she’s forced to confront all the not-so-perfect details of their relationship—starting with their rocky road to marriage, which included dozens of breakups and makeups. Liz isn’t so keen to take Julian back this time and goes to stay with her father and half-sister, Zoey, who she catches in bed with Andrew, Zoey’s cheating ex-boyfriend; Liz’s return might shake the last bit of Zoey’s faith in first love. The arrival of their older sister, Cecilia, complicates things even further, as she still has not forgiven their father for cheating on their mother years earlier, or cultivated a sisterly relationship with Zoey, who is the product of that marriage-ending affair. Cecilia also struggles with commitment issues that bar her from taking the next step with her girlfriend. As the days of summer pass by, the sisters find themselves relating to each other more than ever, especially recently heartbroken Liz and Zoey. Together, they forge new connections and discard old ones as Cecilia wonders if it’s time to finally accept Zoey as a part of her family after years of using Liz as a go-between. Told in alternating perspectives, the three storylines are braided together with ease, effectively conveying the overarching themes and character arcs. The prose drills deep into the sisters’ heads and depicts their emotions in affecting detail: “I sit down on the bed and stare at my hands in my lap. My heart thumps a broken beat. Whatever any of this means, I can’t think about it now. Or ever.” Their individual journeys feel real, with endings that don’t come with a neat bow on them but are still satisfying.
A quick read that packs in lots of heart and familial love.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781958231562
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Red Adept Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 23, 2024
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
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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