A sparklingly eccentric novel, historically intelligent and wryly amusing.
In Haas’ historical novel, a German family moves to California in search of peace and freedom as the First World War approaches.
In 1914, Anna Lanz, a violin player, lives in Berlin with her husband Gerhard—he builds telephone switchboards— and two not-quite-teenaged children, Benji and Lilli. War is brewing across Europe, and she lives in a state of emergency, waiting for the world to explode. Gerhard is hopelessly impractical and waits idealistically for communism to deliver them salvation. Anna hears about Sunland, a bohemian community that has retreated into the mountainous countryside of Langenhain, where clothing is optional and electricity is frowned upon. Surprisingly, Gerhard agrees to visit for a couple of days with the family, and they become intoxicated with the simplicity and solace of this place that seems free from global tumult and the crassness of modern life. As Richard Weiss, more or less the leader of Sunland puts it: “Do you know what you do? You have people living in a state of obscene decency. Instead of manufacturing you have singing. Instead of money you have good looks. In place of the army you have conversation under the trees.” In this moving and startlingly fresh novel, the Sunland members—with the Lanz family in tow—decide to decamp for San Bernardino County in California, a land where arable farmland is abundant with the reputation of being the “world capital of being left alone.” However, there is no complete escape from the war—the Sunlanders wrestle with the prejudice and suspicion reserved for enemy aliens, which intensifies as the war begins. Moreover, the sexual libertinism of Sunland is not always emancipating, and threatens the marital bond between Anna and Gerhard. Haas’ writing style is supple and bitingly ironic—there is not a hint of preachy didacticism here, and he vividly captures the wages of world war and the sometimes-quixotic responses to it. This is a mesmerizing novel, delightfully funny and unpretentiously wise.
A sparklingly eccentric novel, historically intelligent and wryly amusing.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9798988550549
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Beck & Branch Publishers
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 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
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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