A lighthearted romp with a diverting message of empowerment.
In Gallagher’s novel, a lively tale of revenge ensues after a mild-mannered television producer discovers her husband’s infidelity.
Ruby Bixler thought her marriage to Brad Diamond, a handsome local news anchor, was picture-perfect. They had a beautiful home and were planning to start trying to have kids soon. All that is thrown into disarray when Ruby learns that Brad has been cheating on her with his 25-year-old assistant, Natasha Tabak.Ruby’s first instinct is to forgive him—an option encouraged by her overbearing mother, who fears that her daughter won't be able to find another man. However, Ruby is bolstered by her best friend, Dottie, whose personality is the complete opposite of her own; whenever Ruby shrinks away from difficulty, Dottie encourages her to stand up for herself and remember her self-worth. When Ruby is finally pushed past her breaking point, she embarks on a series of revenge schemes for herself and a few others in her life, with Dottie by her side. Her first act of vengeance is spur-of-the-moment, but it has a ripple effect that continues to play out in entertaining ways throughout the book. Other payback schemes are quirky, clever, and amusing, and they’ll keep readers engaged as they follow Ruby’s emotional journey. Although many characters come off as somewhat underdeveloped, the author does an effective job of quickly telegraphing what each new player brings to the narrative. Discussions of romance and sex tend to rely on cliches and are often awkward rather than intimate or evocative: “he was caught paralyzed like a moth in Natasha’s sticky perfumed web.” Still, the brisk pacing will keep readers’ attention, and Ruby’s growth from a timid doormat to a confident woman is satisfying, with themes that are reminiscent of Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (2017) and Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman (2016).
A lighthearted romp with a diverting message of empowerment.Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9798988058618
Page Count: 267
Publisher: Richmond Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2025
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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