A sensitive and moody take on personal connections between loved ones.
In Wald’s novel, the spirit of a recently deceased psychology professor looks back on his life and career, the women he loved, and the tumor that killed him.
When Jack MacLeod died, he “expected to have the mysteries of the universe open up to me like water lilies in the sunlight, but, alas, that isn’t what happened at all.” Despite his demise, he’s still contemplating his life as a 40-ish, bespectacled, unhappily married professor at a New Jersey college. At the end of his time on Earth, he was suffering from a benign but inoperable brain tumor. Stoic and in a somber environment, Jack was always happy to see Eliza, a quiet, determined student.At the same time, his marriage was ending, as his wife, Frances, never thought he was ever rich or successful enough. As Jack deteriorated, he had some regrets: He wished that he’d known his two sons better and that he could have pursued an extramarital affair with Eliza. He also ruminated about Wally Mussel, the despicable head of the psychology department—a grotesque beast of a man who may be blackmailing someone and is likely responsible for worse offenses. His reign of terror also began to directly affect Jack’s life, but he hatched a secret plan with a beloved colleague to expose Mussel for what he was. Wald’s evocative novel manages to deftly capture the mood and myriad voices of the academic world; however, it also narrows its focus to delve deeply into the sensitive mind of its introspective protagonist. Jack is certainly an intelligent, if somewhat sedate, man, and his varied experiences with three different women are depicted out of sequence by a writer who understands timing as much as she does a beautifully crafted sentence. Jack’s life is a serious and pensive one, and it doesn’t end well, but there are flashes of dark humor over the course of the narrative that make it very appealing.
A sensitive and moody take on personal connections between loved ones.Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64742-205-9
Page Count: 296
Publisher: She Writes Press
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
SEEN & HEARD
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.
A French art historian’s English-language fiction debut combines the story of a loving relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter with an enlightening discussion of art.
One day, when 10-year-old Mona removes the necklace given to her by her now-dead grandmother, she experiences a frightening, hour-long bout of blindness. Her parents take her to the doctor, who gives her a variety of tests and also advises that she see a psychiatrist. Her grandfather Henry tells her parents that he will take care of that assignment, but instead, he takes Mona on weekly visits to either the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, or the Centre Pompidou, where each week they study a single work of art, gazing at it deeply and then discussing its impact and history and the biography of its maker. For the reader’s benefit, Schlesser also describes each of the works in scrupulous detail. As the year goes on, Mona faces the usual challenges of elementary school life and the experiences of being an only child, and slowly begins to understand the causes of her temporary blindness. Primarily an amble through a few dozen of Schlesser’s favorite works of art—some well known and others less so, from Botticelli and da Vinci through Basquiat and Bourgeois—the novel would probably benefit from being read at a leisurely pace. While the dialogue between Henry and the preternaturally patient and precocious Mona sometimes strains credulity, readers who don’t have easy access to the museums of Paris may enjoy this vicarious trip in the company of a guide who focuses equally on that which can be seen and the context that can’t be. Come for the novel, stay for the introductory art history course.
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798889661115
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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