Capable and confidently insightful, Athill delivers a stylish, candid life lesson.
The coming of age—and the reaching of happiness—of a sharp-witted woman of good breeding in post–World War II England.
Celebrated memoirist and noted book editor Athill, who died in 2019 at age 101, published this, her first and only novel, in 1967. Now reissued with an afterword by Helen Oyeyemi, the book traces the emergence of Meg Bailey, the granddaughter of a baronet, against a background of 1950s Britain. Class undoubtedly flavors the tale—“they ate jam out of the pot it was sold in”—but it’s Meg’s acerbic, judgmental narrative voice that dominates. She is a loner, the misfit daughter of a Church of England parson and his irritated wife. At school, Meg is deemed conceited, superior, and affected, which in some ways she is, but she’s also shy and short on self-confidence, forever seeking like-minded figures who will assuage her desire to be “seen.” Roxane Weaver is her one close friend, and Meg lodges with the Weavers while attending art school in Oxford, learning there that she is better at design and illustration than painting. But Meg’s true future lies in London, where she moves into a rackety household and finds a community of friends. True intimacy, however, comes with guilt after she begins an all-consuming affair with Roxane’s husband, Dick. Athill grants Meg a forthrightness of tone that is both challenging and disarming. Withering opinions and almost comically damning truths—“At least I was able to disguise from Henry the degree of my revulsion”—are delivered without cease as Meg plows forward, compromised by her feelings for Dick and Roxane. An episode with an Egyptian friend is a weakness in the novel, but helps usher in the surprising discovery of where Meg’s heart has led her.
Capable and confidently insightful, Athill delivers a stylish, candid life lesson.Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2023
ISBN: 9781681376110
Page Count: 192
Publisher: NYRB Classics
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
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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