A cozy novel of friendship and healing set in an inviting third space.
Three women advise each other on love, spirits, and pets in Corazza’s debut novel.
Every town should have a place like the Geode Cafe and Bookshop, where the citizens of Umbra River, California, can gather to chat, read, and sip espresso drinks. Geode—its name a nod to the town’s Goldrush past—is owned by retired schoolteacher and empty-nester Olivia, a cheerful woman plagued by occasional migraines. She loves that her two best friends are close by; Anna is an animal psychic and the owner of Besties, the pet supply store and animal shelter next door to the cafe, and Emmaline is an aspiring writer who uses the store’s storage closet as an office. Since her husband was killed by a drunk driver, the young Emmaline has been on her own with her 4-year-old son, Charlie—who, like Anna, displays some psychic gifts. The three friends meet for weekly dinner and gossip, where they get into the secrets—good and bad—of their private lives, as well as those of Umbra River’s history. When Charlie starts having visions of a ghostly boy on a horse, it leads the women into an investigation of the town’s darkest chapter. Corazza’s prose casts a comforting spell on the reader, in part because so much of it is dedicated to praising the atmosphere of Olivia’s shop: “Geode’s old plank floors gave Emmaline the feeling of being pulled into Geode’s warm, calmly lit space, and if the appearance didn’t do it, the aroma of dough baking and fresh coffee did.” The plot, such as it is, moves at a snail’s pace as the town and its characters are introduced from various perspectives, with much information repeated and many cute businesses described in great detail. Despite some exceptions—cafe manager Lucy is a stock Irishwoman out of a bad 1950s comedy—the characters are well rendered, and the reader is mostly content to listen in on their conversations as they navigate the sometimes strange but more often mundane twists in their personal lives.
A cozy novel of friendship and healing set in an inviting third space.Pub Date: April 24, 2025
ISBN: 9781685135911
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: March 18, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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