Perfect for fans of light historical fiction led by a complex heroine.
The lives of an ambitious chorus girl in 1925 and a grieving film student in 2015 intersect in this debut novel.
It’s 2015, and Sawyer Hayes is desperate to finish his doctoral thesis on the legendary filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. Sawyer lost over a year to prescription drug abuse after the traumatic death of his sister, Azizi, and he’s convinced that jump-starting his professional life will put the pieces back together—and maybe help him stop seeing Azizi’s ghost. But he needs Honoree Dalcour, a 110-year-old woman who spent time with Micheaux back in the 1920s, to fill in the blanks of his research. With Miss Honoree ailing and ornery, though, it’s going to take a lot more work than Sawyer anticipated to unveil her story. Back in 1925, Honoree is a vibrant young woman determined to dance onstage at Chicago’s famed Dreamland Cafe. But Archie Graves, her abusive boss, keeps her on a short leash, and she’s not sure she’ll ever escape the confines of his club, Miss Hattie’s. With the arrival of 16-year-old new chorus girl Bessie Palmer and the sudden reappearance of Honoree's childhood love, Ezekiel Bailey—now involved in the dangerous dealings of the city’s notorious gangsters—the course of her life will change forever. As Sawyer gets to know Honoree, their stories intertwine, revealing decades-old secrets. The author deftly weaves fiction with reality—figures like filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, musician Louis Armstrong, and actor Charlie Chaplin all appear—and paints a vibrant picture of the sparkling yet seedy era, but the two timelines are uneven. Though the characters in 1925 are multilayered, those in 2015 feel underdeveloped. And while the modern-day timeline adds some mystery to the plot, it’s mostly unnecessary to the overall story arc.
Perfect for fans of light historical fiction led by a complex heroine.Pub Date: March 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4967-3008-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
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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