A vivid but slow-paced recounting of one woman’s self-reckoning, steeped in nostalgia.
A middle-aged woman abandons her husband and children to embark on a cross-country trip in search of a more satisfying life in this debut novel.
Carolyn Tanner used to be something special. Back in college in the 1960s, she was an activist, a hippie, a bit of a druggy, and a budding playwright with big dreams. Somewhere along the way, she veered onto another path. Now that the ’80s have rolled around, Caro finds herself a disillusioned suburban wife and mother in an upscale Connecticut town with little else on her résumé. When she dreams one night about an old flame from her more colorful college days, she worries she’s had a premonition—that this man needs her help. Suddenly desperate to escape her cookie-cutter life, she begins to plan her liberation. After she drops her three kids at the bus stop for summer camp, she leaves a vague note for her husband and takes off in search of her college sweetheart, Peter MacKinley. As Caro crosses the country on this multiday journey, the story alternates between scenes from her adult life and those she remembers more fondly from her younger years. But the further she delves into her memories of Peter, the more she realizes that the relationship she had with him was complicated, too. As the tale progresses, Caro is forced to come to grips with what she really wants and what she may be leaving behind. Told primarily through flashbacks, Caro reveals much about both her married life and her bohemian college days. Shepherd’s novel contains entertaining details of the ’60s and ’80s, deftly capturing the atmosphere of both time periods. Told in the first person from Caro’s perspective, the book reads very similarly to a memoir, meandering through the formative events in her life. But the story suffers from the inclusion of too many scenes that do little to advance the narrative, instead creating an often sluggish tempo. Even so, the tale explores many weighty topics relating to life’s transitions with insight and grace. From sexual orientation to personal ambition, grief, friendship, and self-esteem, the author dives deep. For those interested in journeys of self-discovery and the circuitous paths of personal relationships, the payoff is ultimately worth it.
A vivid but slow-paced recounting of one woman’s self-reckoning, steeped in nostalgia.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64742-026-0
Page Count: 353
Publisher: She Writes Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2020
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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