A haunting but quietly hopeful set of tales that’s perfect for a cozy fall read.
Barzak’s lyrical short story collection reimagines fairy tales and other classic stories.
The adaptations draw on children’s classics such as Brothers Grimm fairy tales, J.M. Barrie’s stories of Peter Pan, and L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) to literary staples such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892)and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). Familiarity with the original tales certainly enhances the reading of these well-written retellings, but the latter can stand on their own. Barzak’s favored approach is to retell a story from the perspective of an overlooked, tertiary character, frequently imagining them as queer but trapped in heteronormativity, just as they’re trapped in narratives that sideline and shortchange them. There are effective themes of classism as well, with the shifted perspective giving voice to those on the stories’ periphery. As a result, the stories in this compilation put forth new heroes for modern readers. The prose is elegant and old-fashioned but accessible, with occasional allusions to the original texts’ language, as in “Eat Me, Drink Me, Love Me,” an adaptation of Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” (1862), one of the many highlights in this collection, in which the prose seems to sing in harmony with the original work: “Sometimes, as I came to see if the peach kernel was growing, I would be deluded by visions of ripe berry bushes, the way a thirsty traveler in the desert will see water where no water flows.” “Invisible Men,” inspired by H.G. Wells’ novel The Invisible Man (1897) is less successful, as Barzak’s attempt to relate his protagonist’s rural Sussex dialect is inconsistent.
A haunting but quietly hopeful set of tales that’s perfect for a cozy fall read.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2023
ISBN: 9781590217610
Page Count: 218
Publisher: Lethe Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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