An evocative ’70s campus yarn that ultimately fails to satisfy as drama or philosophical commentary.
A college professor falls in love with one of his students in Smith’s historical novel.
In the 1970s, Harrison Gregg teaches rhetorical theory at the University of Virginia and becomes a popular teacher among the student body. He strikes up a friendship with a promising freshman named Thomas; over time they grow closer and finally become best friends. When Thomas betrays Gregg and sleeps with his girlfriend, Diana, Gregg realizes he’s so stung because he’s actually fallen in love with Thomas. Later, after Gregg leaves Virginia after being denied tenure, he continues to pine for Thomas, though Thomas gives him little encouragement. Here, Gregg contemplates his disappointment in the earnest, melodramatic terms that typify Smith’s soap-operatic novel: “Maybe he only wants written communication. Maybe I scared him terribly that last night. Or maybe I had said all I needed to say to him. But that can’t be; human relationships must be inexhaustible, mustn’t they.” Thomas eventually marries Diana, though it is a fraught union, and Gregg becomes a political operative in Washington, D.C. The highlight of the book is its depiction of university life in the 1970s, full of excitement and radicalism but also hypocrisy, a professional cosmos with which Gregg finally grows disenchanted (“Each meeting of a faculty committee convinced him that these people were more and more concerned with their own survival and less and less concerned with improving their students”). However, the author’s prose vacillates between treacly sentimentality and arid intellectualizing; the unfortunate result is that the narrative never grips the reader either emotionally or intellectually, a predicament exacerbated by the plot’s desultory meandering. One can’t help but feel that Smith is presenting the reader with some kind of moral lesson—the story has a tincture of didacticism—but it’s never clear what that lesson is.
An evocative ’70s campus yarn that ultimately fails to satisfy as drama or philosophical commentary.Pub Date: May 25, 2023
ISBN: 9798396048447
Page Count: 221
Publisher: Amazon.com
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
