Saintclare modernizes outdated sex-work narratives, honoring the bonds formed between women instead.
British author Saintclare’s addictive debut novel follows Agnes, a 21-year-old mixed-race woman who moves from housecleaning to sex work.
Working alongside her deeply religious, Caribbean-born mother, Constance, Agnes polishes the homes of wealthy suburbanites during the week and spends her weekends at dive bars, obsessing over men who show little interest. When she meets Emily, the daughter of one of her clients, she’s introduced to an entirely different way of living. Emily dresses Agnes in designer clothes, paints her lips a femme-fatale red, and whisks her away to the London flat she shares with a group of hedonistic models. Emily undertakes the project of imparting all she’s learned about “sugaring” to Agnes, so she can transform herself into a sugar baby and support herself without relying on Constance. Agnes accompanies Emily and her friends on their dates, where rich, older (often married) men pay them to go to lunch, drink champagne in clubs, and engage in various types of sex work. Agnes soon learns how to identify suitable prospective clients (shoes, watch, jacket) and starts to build up her own roster—and a collection of designer handbags. But the drinking, drugs, and sex work begin to spiral out of control when Agnes struggles to separate her emotions from each transaction. The night she meets Russian billionaire Sergei, she’s confronted with a new dynamic entirely—she’s asked to engage in sex with both Sergei and his wife. She’s flown to Miami and attends a drug-fueled party, making the power imbalance—and danger—of her situation starkly clear. This is a propulsive read that tackles myriad attitudes toward sex work, from condemnation to celebration, through a distinctly feminist lens. Accompanying the partying with perceptive social commentary, Saintclare refuses to romanticize the gritty details of sugaring—inviting the reader into a whirlwind of champagne, sex, and money that is at times claustrophobic, scary, and toxic.
Saintclare modernizes outdated sex-work narratives, honoring the bonds formed between women instead.Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781639732463
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 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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