A powerful exploration of artistic ambition, deception, and redemption.
Aspiring journalist Violet Maris embarks on an audacious scheme that threatens to unravel her identity in Wald’s novel.
Violet Maris, a 26-year-old journalist, sees an opportunity for a groundbreaking exposé when she learns about The Home, a prestigious artists’ residency in Provincetown that may not be all that it seems. Since journalists aren’t admitted, she goes undercover and submits her mentor Spencer Bayrose’s unpublished stories as her own. With his approval, she secures a prestigious fellowship and enters the insular world of The Home. There, she encounters a diverse group of artists, forming tentative bonds with fellow “verbals” (writers) and “visuals” (painters and sculptors), including the sensitive poet Cordelia, the blunt fiction writer Phrank, and the captivating Jeanette. Despite her initial skepticism, she becomes immersed in the creative energy of The Home, a place where ambition clashes with creativity. But her deception weighs heavily on her, especially as she grows close to Gene Pelletier, a board member she lied to about her intentions to report on the retreat. Her secret is further complicated by Spencer’s declining health. After his death from AIDS, Violet is left to confront her grief while carrying the weight of her deception. The novel’s introspective first-person narration allows readers to fully immerse themselves in Violet’s perspective. Provincetown’s setting comes to life with its seaside, bohemian vibes and vibrant energy (“The weather, while not as frigid as it was on the mainland, had a soul-chilling quality that made you feel a bit bipolar—alternately anxious and elated. My own moods, in fact, did vacillate between the two”). Sharp dialogue, like Gene Pelletier’s guarded remark about The Home’s privacy, adds depth to the story (“Miss Maris…I doubt any of them would want to participate in anything like that. It’s kind of a private space for us, you know. Everybody’s there to work on their art”). As Violet balances her growing attachment to The Home with the guilt of her deceit, the novel builds toward an inevitable reckoning. The lies that once felt so clever now feel suffocating, and the price of her ambition may be more than she anticipated.
A powerful exploration of artistic ambition, deception, and redemption.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781646035953
Page Count: 116
Publisher: Regal House Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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
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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