A three-part story that’s enlivened by an ephemeral, dreamlike structure and musical prose.
Proffit follows up his historical novella Scapegoat (2025) with a return to the story of his ancestor Susannah North Martin, who was hanged for witchcraft in Salem in the 1690s.
The author combines his own story of coming to terms with his identity as a gay man while seeking conscientious objector status during the Vietnam War with that of his ancestor Susannah, tragically executed during the Salem witch trials. The novel also incorporates the story of Joseph Ring, one of the men who accused Susannah of witchcraft. Along the way, he weaves together storylines and genres to create something that’s hard to categorize but even harder to put down. He presents much of the book as a series of brief, enchanting prose passages that feel more like interconnected pieces of flash fiction than chapters; the author labels the structure of the book by using the language of missals and hymnals: canticles, preludes, and so on. Sprinkled among these elements are sections written in verse, as well as notes, commentary, and memoiristic passages. The overall effect is dreamlike, following the logic of a montage. Overall, the work feels a bit like an impressionistic painting, with each element intriguing and beautifully rendered but impossible to fully process, except holistically. The soaring writing, dreamy organization, and thematic clarity create a book whose substance far outpaces its brevity. Proffit beautifully, honestly, and realistically reflects on the othering that he experienced as he relates it to Susannah’s. Even so, the parts that feature his ancestor are easily the strongest, largely because he portrays her as such a compelling and steady character. Her calm, firm refusal to cower in front of her accusers, or even accept their premise, is inspiring; she delivers a barrage of retorts imbued with a righteous, defiant, and matter-of-fact certainty: “I believe a lie, repeated until it feels like scripture, can make even a girl believe what she performs. I think you give too much credit to Satan and not enough blame to yourselves.”
A three-part story that’s enlivened by an ephemeral, dreamlike structure and musical prose.Pub Date: today
ISBN: 9781971533018
Page Count: -
Publisher: Synthetic Prophetic
Review Posted Online: April 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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