A vivid and insightful historical novel by a debut author.
In Obara’s novel, a young Polish woman shows indomitable courage in the face of the occupation of her country during World War II.
In 1939, Aniela Bartosz (née Majewska) has a wonderful life in Kraków. She’s married to a good man, Henryk Bartosz, and they have a beautiful daughter, Wanda. But when the Nazis march into Poland, the Bartoszes’ dream turns into a nightmare. Aniela’s father, Professor Bogdan Majewski, is arrested with the whole faculty of his university and dies in a labor camp; Henryk goes off to join the defense forces and then the resistance against the Nazis. Strong-willed Aniela is seen as a troublemaker by the Nazis and winds up in Auschwitz—but before that happens, little Wanda is taken from her mother and given to a German family to raise as their own. Aniela later becomes the secretary of a camp functionary named Joachim Beckmann, who rapes her and then convinces himself that he’s in love with her; she suffers through this because he promises that he’ll try to find out what happened to Wanda. Later, however, she’s sent to Blok 42, the camp brothel for Polish prisoners. Blok 42 was a real place at Auschwitz, and the author’s discovery of this fact inspired the novel. Obara is Polish American and the daughter of immigrants, so she knows the culture of the Bartoszes well, and her prose is skillful throughout, as when she describes a bombing as “obliterating…men in an arc of chaotic energy.” And she captures the arrogance and cruelty of the Nazis, as well their blind hypocrisy, as when Beckmann warns Aniela that Russians have no ethics. Aniela is a strong and memorable character who achieves “a fundamental belief in…what that life was worth.” The book’s last lines are truly stunning.
A vivid and insightful historical novel by a debut author.Pub Date: March 28, 2024
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Vanguard Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2024
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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