An often meandering but engagingly written portrait of a young woman’s life and times.
Lewis presents a novel that offers curious glimpses into the life of a 20-something big-city reporter.
The unnamed, single narrator works in journalism in New York City, covering topics large and small, local and national, in an editor-enforced“Plain-Jane…styleless” style, which makes her feel a hack. She has two roommates: Leon, a friend since childhood, and Susannah, a poet and e-commerce support staffer; another longtime pal, Ruth, shares the up and downs of her marriage and caring for her baby. Lonely and adrift, she doesn’t feel comfortable with her father (who’s remarried), her well-meaning but casually cruel mother, or her crowded rental apartment. She attends parties filled with people she doesn't know, has brief interactions with passing strangers, and tries to find love. Although other characters haphazardly bounce into and out of the narrative, her love interests receive the most attention—particularly Simon, a musician and paralegal with endearing and frustrating traits. The narrative is composed mostly of brief sketches of sensation, emotion, and action with no clear narrative thread, which gives the work an ethereal feel. Lewis skillfully wields sparse language to highlight the daily mundanities of navigating friendships, romantic relationships, and work, and also addresses the complexities of abortion. Occasionally, the sparsity gives way to beautiful imagery: “The river outside the window was motion and light, liquid hues like still-wet paint.” Small sensory details also breathe life into scenes: “Back at the house, my father’s trees bend in the curve of the wine glasses as I set the table.” Scenes of sex and flirtation appear often, as though the narrator wants to be reassured of her desirability; she also regularly highlights the technological changes rushing through society, as when a child thinks that “Don’t forget to subscribe!” means goodbye.
An often meandering but engagingly written portrait of a young woman’s life and times.Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9798992025804
Page Count: 183
Publisher: SmallPub
Review Posted Online: July 10, 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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