A brilliant and truly terrifying account of trauma.
A young woman goes in search of a family—only to end up more alone than before.
In 1987, Ursula Major is just 16, and she’s bounced among children’s homes since her mother died when she was 7. She has a social worker, who’s equipped her for life by counseling her to eat green vegetables with every meal and offer guests a cup of tea. Ursula is hungry—for food, for connection—so she’s primed when her boss at the art school where she works announces, “We’re all family here,” mostly to get her to do the dishes after dinner. Almost immediately, Ursula comes to believe she has indeed found her chosen family among the other young people doing menial jobs: Sue Whelan, an aspiring filmmaker, is alluringly rebellious and also reckless with others’ emotions. She has the kind of family Ursula would kill for. Vince Goldie is a drunk, trying to forget his own childhood tragedies. Raymond is Sue’s brother and the object of Ursula’s affection. From the first sentence, we know that someone has been murdered, and Ursula, now an adult and a renowned artist, is going to explain what happened: “Now I have to prepare myself for whatever is coming, and must decide whether or not I let it in.” What follows is psychologically gripping, disquieting, and breathlessly suspenseful. When Ursula and Vince move into a squat in the Underwood, a house abandoned after a man allegedly killed his wife and then jumped off the roof, you might expect a certain kind of ghost story. But no, the haunting that takes place is far more complicated, as Fuller peels back the layers of Ursula’s unspeakably devastating loss. Leaving certain key events unraveled just enough, Fuller performs a feat few writers manage and makes the central mystery linger long after the novel ends.
A brilliant and truly terrifying account of trauma.Pub Date: June 2, 2026
ISBN: 9781963108729
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Tin House
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
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
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.
With only a month left until the world ends due to a swiftly approaching black hole, Don and Rodney, a retired gay couple, road-trip from Maine to Washington to spend their final days with their son.
After reports that a planet-swallowing black hole is making its way toward Earth, Rodney and Don—who have been together for 40 years and survived everything from homophobia to the HIV crisis—decide to pack their belongings into an RV, say goodbye to their neighbors, and travel from Camden, Maine, to Washington to uphold a promise to spend their final days with their son. They can’t wait any longer, since there’s already chaos around the country: “Military vehicles in the streets of most cities and towns. Looting, rioting, the burning of cars and buildings and people, all of it had already happened.” As they make their way west across the country, they encounter fellow travelers ranging from close-knit families to free-spirited hippies, some of whom have come to terms with the impending end of the world and others who haven’t. While the story seems to be asking readers what they would do if they had 30 days left to live, and reflects on what different kinds of acceptance might look like in the face of unavoidable tragedy, it loses some of its poignancy in a series of thinly padded monologues about the meaning of life. Clearly intended to pack an emotional punch, it’s failed by an abrupt ending, and the way the journey’s mystery—which will be obvious to many readers—is revealed by an info dump in the last chapter.
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781250881236
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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