A weird, wild, and beautiful wail of emotion that seems to emanate from the very heart of the American South.
Van den Berg’s debut poetry collection wrestles with themes of alienation and religion.
This group of poems, introducing a rogues’ gallery of outsiders, from itinerant blues musicians to train-hopping hobos, is divided into three “epistles”; the poems featured in the first epistle, “Salt River Blues,” are undiluted Southern gothic, describing bizarre characters such as “the witch-mama of nubbins slough” who “takes babies from girls / raises them on foxmilk.” The second epistle, “The Midnight Gospel,” addresses religion and the notion of an absent God: In “now am i become death,” the poet sneers: “god turned off the heat and locked hisself away ’cause the critics wrote / the universe is not your best work....” The final epistle, “Pinecone Son,” contains poems that are distinctly more intimate and confessional: “i’m not made of flesh and bone / but candle wax. / tell me, / does the wick not fear the match?” Van den Berg is a master of discomforting imagery. The opening to the title poem effortlessly captures the rage and weariness of lives lived in toil and torment: “daddy was a wildfire burned hisself inside out / spat out pinecone sons.” Such rawness is skillfully tempered elsewhere with delicate, painterly observation: “wrote a love note on the side of a freight train signed in / cigarette ash and montana black.” Poems like “Grandma Voodoo’s Motel Six” reflect van den Berg’s wry humor, smirking at the tourist who desires an “Authentik” experience “in a gen-u-ine replica of a Cracker shack….” The result is a satisfyingly textured collection that has the power to repulse, endear, and even make us question our relationship with God.
A weird, wild, and beautiful wail of emotion that seems to emanate from the very heart of the American South.Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781953932174
Page Count: 100
Publisher: April Gloaming Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
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
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
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