Astute, keen-eyed musings on lives well lived—and otherwise.
The protagonists in Sittenfeld’s second collection of short stories look back—with mixed emotions.
Though the characters here are largely middle-aged men and women reflecting on marriage, career, and friendship, few encounter anything as dramatic as a midlife crisis; these are tales of midlife contemplation. In “The Richest Babysitter in the World,” a professor finds joy in her own comparatively ordinary life even as she recalls turning down a job offer from a then-unknown Jeff Bezos–esque figure; in “Follow-Up,” an attorney awaiting medical test results reminisces about a hookup in law school. Sittenfeld’s characters—including Lee Fiora, the protagonist of her debut novel, Prep (2005), who reappears here in “Lost but Not Forgotten”—typically see the world with an almost hypervigilant level of scrutiny. Cutting remarks or seemingly innocuous gestures take on outsize meanings; characters analyze their own and others’ social positions through the prisms of wealth, artistic talent, physical attractiveness, and celebrity. Happily, the once-insecure Lee has mellowed considerably, and though her powers of observation, honed during four agonizing years at a New England prep school, haven’t been blunted, they’re no longer tinged by self-loathing. Sittenfeld’s politically themed novels have been wildly popular, and several stories use politics and contemporary issues as jumping-off points for sharp insights on human nature. “A for Alone” follows an artist attempting to make sense of the “Mike Pence rule” (the former vice president’s policy of avoiding one-on-one time with women other than his wife), while “White Women LOL” features a protagonist who displays a stunning lack of self-awareness for a Sittenfeld character—a woman dubbed “Vodka Vicky” after a video of her attempting to oust a group of Black people from a bar goes viral. While the lack of resolution of several entries may frustrate some readers, Sittenfeld’s candor and matter-of-factness make for compellingly intimate and at times wildly funny reading.
Astute, keen-eyed musings on lives well lived—and otherwise.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780593446737
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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
Though uneven, this is still a pleasurable, comforting read.
Infertility, family secrets, and alpacas all figure in Quindlen’s latest meditation on mothering and domesticity.
Polly’s life looks enviable. Happily married to the adoring Mark—a vet at the Bronx Zoo—she teaches English at a private Manhattan girls’ school and loves her work. She has a protective older brother and close girlfriends, who’ve formed a book club where no one is expected to read the book. But Polly desperately wants a child and, at 42, knows time is running out. She and Mark have gone through endless fertility treatments, to no avail. Meantime, Polly’s friends have given her a DNA kit as a jokey birthday gift, and something mysterious shows up in the test results. Then, out of nowhere, a young woman contacts her, suggesting they may be related. That’s not all: Polly feels estranged from her mother, a revered judge who’s insufficiently maternal in her daughter’s view. Her father has always cherished her, but he’s in a nursing home now with a rapidly failing mind. And something is amiss with her best pal, Sarah. Quindlen’s trademark empathy is evident throughout, and her wry humor leavens some of the serious goings-on. Early on, Mark and Polly visit a fertility clinic with photos of babies in the waiting room; for Polly, “it felt…like a Weight Watchers facility with hot fudge sundae pictures on the wall.” Then we meet these charming alpacas, humming and pronking, on a farm run by an earth mother, whose wisdom will help Polly get on with her life. The plot swerves around a bit, there may be one surplus narrative thread (e.g., Polly’s star student Josephine running aground after graduation), and at the end, the author ties things up too neatly, pushing the “circle of life” theme too hard.
Though uneven, this is still a pleasurable, comforting read.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
ISBN: 9780593734605
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
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