Alive with the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of Jamaica.
In a Jamaican village, a 99-year-old woman uses modern tools to deal with a complicated past.
At the center of McCaulay’s seventh book is the towering character of Miss Pauline Sinclair, who at the age of nearly 100 is driven by the sense that the stones of her house are urging her to deal with the shady history of that edifice. The stones were originally part of a backra mansion in the bush—a house that belonged to white slaveholders. Miss Pauline came upon the backra estate when she was a child fleeing sexual assault by the local pastor and eventually decided to transport its stones to build her own dwelling on a more advantageous site. Her initiative was copied by her neighbors, creating a whole village of stone houses, and when Miss Pauline became a ganja grower in the wake of Hurricane Gilbert, she was able to put in an indoor bathroom and kitchen, pay for her children’s schooling, and support the family after their father’s death. But now, as she feels death approaching, she’s troubled by the memory of a white man named Turner Buchanan who came to her in 1987 with a pile of paperwork; he subsequently disappeared and a taxi driver was jailed for his murder. She has been keeping secrets about this situation for a long time. One of the most charming elements of the novel is Miss Pauline’s friendship with Lamont, a motorcycle-riding teen who helps her use Skype, Facebook, and email to reconnect with relatives and search out others connected to her story. McCaulay was inspired by the discovery of her own complex multiracial genealogy, as she discloses in an author’s note, and she’s even given some of the historic characters the names of her ancestors. As it makes its points about the complex legacy of colonialism and recaps a century of life in rural Jamaica through the eyes of one fierce and enterprising woman, the novel educates and entertains.
Alive with the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of Jamaica.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9781643757223
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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