A suite of innovative and emotional dramas depicting an embattled family.
Epstein examines the effect of mental illness on the family unit in this trio of dramatic plays.
The plays follow middle-aged parents Micah and Tess and their adult children: the oldest, exasperated Ava; the middle one, comedian Beezie; and the youngest, the difficult Arky; Arky is a former golden child who has transformed into a combative drinker and drug-user in his 20s. The first play, Mahalo, follows the family’s attempts to deal with Arky after he’s diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder. In Desperados, Tess pressures Micah to put the battered family home on the market, which unleashes a flood of memories of their many years there. In the first scene of the concluding Arky, the family deals with the fallout of Arky leaping out of a moving car on the highway for no apparent reason, leading his parents to wonder if they wouldn’t all be better off if Arky were dead. But Arky doesn’t die: the play leaps forward in time 10 years, and then another 10, sketching out the peculiar life of this troubled man to see where he finally ends up. The plays have postmodern flourishes, with stark staging involving ramps and platforms and precise lighting directions. Characters frequently break the fourth wall, launching into songs or stand-up routines to comment on the action. The format helps to capture the absurdity of mental illness, both for the sufferer and those around him. When Micah tells Tess, nonjudgmentally, that he’d bet she was an alcoholic, Tess responds, “You would? Who cares? We left the planet years ago. We’re out there—just out there in orbit, visiting our boy in Crazyland.” According to the author’s preface, these pieces have never been produced—the reader will be anxious to one day see one or all of these plays staged in a theater. Until then, these pages provide a suitable window into Arky’s Crazyland.
A suite of innovative and emotional dramas depicting an embattled family.Pub Date: July 31, 2023
ISBN: 9781953943354
Page Count: 358
Publisher: Retriever Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2023
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
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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