One does come to agree with the characters that the most likable of the group has been killed off.
A year after the death of their sibling, three surviving sisters are in rough straits.
Nicky Blue was the third of the four Blue sisters and, by everyone’s account, the cream of the crop—even their cold, distant mother had a soft spot for her. Though no one thought of her as a drug addict, Nicky died at 27 of a fentanyl overdose; she had become addicted to painkillers due to the unending torment of endometriosis. But now that they’ve had time to stew over it, each of the survivors can see that she should have known. Avery, the oldest at 33—she basically raised the others due to the disinterest of their mother and the alcoholism of their father—is thought of by everyone as perfect. A lawyer in London, happily married to a loving wife, 10 years sober, she’s actually utterly miserable and has begun to act out in ways that threaten to blow up her life. Bonnie, the second oldest, has already exploded hers—she ditched her career as a world-class boxer and is now likely to lose her job as a bouncer at a club in Los Angeles. Lucky, the baby of the family, is the furthest gone—a supermodel since the age of 15, she’s partying so hard day and night that even the relaxed standards of the fashion workplace can no longer accommodate her. Mellors’ sophomore novel lays a thick foundation of grief, addiction, and self-loathing before bringing these three together in New York to clean out Nicky’s stuff from their childhood apartment, which their heartless mother has decided to sell, and in short order they are just about clawing each others’ eyes out. The bad decisions, bad behavior, and bad news just keep coming until a few positive plot developments in the final chapters, then a fairy-tale epilogue. Maybe it was Mellors’ intention to challenge the reader in this way, but in the end, it seems like a lot of heavy lifting to illustrate well-worn points about sisterhood and addiction.
One does come to agree with the characters that the most likable of the group has been killed off.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780593723760
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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
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
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