A bracing account of the destruction left in the wake of AIDS.
A struggling screenwriter becomes entangled with a cult in Carlton’s novel, set during the height of the AIDS crisis.
Tyler St. George is an aspiring writer in Los Angeles in the early 1990s during the worst days of the AIDS crisis—as a gay man, it torments him to see so many of his friends succumb to the deadly disease and the community to which he belongs be ravaged. Desperate to make a difference of some kind, he begins working as a chef (he’s got real culinary talent) working for Manna from Heaven, a nonprofit organization that delivers food to those dying from AIDS. The operation is run by Lakshmi Steinmetz, a self-styled sage who promotes an incoherent mix of Christian and Buddhist teachings and brazenly presents herself as a prophet on a par with Jesus Christ. Tyler is not impressed by her at all, as evidenced by his memorable reaction to her hubristic con: “I could see that most of it was gibberish, malarkey, the disconnected ramblings of a mildly schizophrenic woman who had read a lot of books, some of them taught by her husband, and then she regurgitated them. It was speaking in tongues.” To make matters worse, she’s not just a charlatan but a hypocritical boss, one who advocates caring for the sick and dying but who refuses to offer healthcare to her own workers. Tyler’s pay is meager, and he quickly finds himself buried in debt and exhausted by the relentless work, his requests for modest raises dismissed. Robert Braverman, a famously handsome model, joins the organization, and this seems to promise reform—his “IQ was as big as his cock but his heart seemed even bigger.” However, Lakshmi turns on him, as she turns on everyone, and a personal war between them ensues.
The author paints a delicate but powerful portrait of a time haunted by AIDS and the heartbreaking effect it had on the gay community in California and beyond. The crisis was a monumental event even for those who were never infected, as Tyler points out to his longtime boyfriend, Kyle: “Kyle, the best thing that ever happened to this relationship was the AIDS crisis. We were forced to be monogamous and the fighting ended. I liked it, the peace that followed ... I felt safe with you.” Tyler is a fascinating protagonist—he is disgusted by Lakshmi’s nihilistic opportunism, but he also wonders if he isn’t just as much of a shallow opportunist. However, far too much of the book is devoted to the internecine disputes within Lakshmi’s cult—her workers are routinely humiliated by her, are either fired or quit in fits of impatient exhaustion, then sign non-disclosure agreements in exchange for generous severance packages. This cycle palls, especially since there is never any mystery about Lakshmi’s character—like Tyler, the reader knows from the very beginning that she is a narcissistic fraud. Still, despite the dreary repetitiveness of the narrative, Carlton’s poignant and unflinching depiction of the battle against AIDS, and the grim rise of those who profited from it, warrants a read.
A bracing account of the destruction left in the wake of AIDS.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 379
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
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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