An engrossing tale of racial intolerance that revels in profundity and hope.
An allegorical novelette envisions a fantastical creature as holding the key to freeing Black citizens from prejudice and police brutality.
Written in the second person, this story casts the reader as the protagonist. The reader’s journey begins at Princeton University’s Seventy-Nine Hall, where Kingfisher, “part man and dragon fish-like beast,” is a captive. Releasing his chained wings will allow him to escape, as he’s the ransom for redemption from “perpetual slavery and unjust policing and death by police.” But the reader winds up a prisoner as well in the Hall’s dungeon. With hands restrained, the reader gasps for breath as someone presses a knee on the neck. The reader must first break free with the help of Kingfisher. The creature can also provide the reader guidance, along with the Queen of Mamas’ lullaby, on how to reach the Village of Mothers and earn the key to unlocking Kingfisher’s cage. This sometimes-treacherous adventure demands that the reader brave the Forest of Lynching, brimming with such dangers as police with red sirens and people draped in white sheets carrying burning torches. But once Kingfisher is free, all Black citizens will be, too. Though metaphorical, much of Clovis’ tale is transparent, as it’s clear what the characters and plot turns symbolize. Still, parts are left to interpretation; for example, the author herself seems to be a guide, whispering into the reader/protagonist’s ear to start the journey. While the story hits on topical issues like George Floyd’s death and police discrimination, it also pushes historical transgressions into the foreground, most notably the appalling Tuskegee experiment. Clovis’ lyrical prose, as in her previous books, graces the pages: “The nature of the universe is vibrational in the expression of power in sound, music, and mantra. This key is true freedom and allows us to transcend the level of awareness from which word becomes spiritual power and flesh.”
An engrossing tale of racial intolerance that revels in profundity and hope.Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-98-226970-8
Page Count: 84
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A touching novel about loss with a magical and mystical flourish.
A young man helps the living and dead meet one last time under the full moon.
Japanese bestseller Tsujimura’s quiet novel follows a mysterious teenager known as the go-between, who can set up meetings between the living and the dead. An introverted woman wants to meet the television star with whom she has a parasocial relationship. A cynical eldest son hopes to visit his mother about their family business. A devastated high schooler fears she is responsible for her friend’s tragic death. And, finally, a middle-aged workaholic finally feels ready to find out if his fiancée, who disappeared seven years ago, is dead. Each character has a uniquely personal reason for seeking out the deceased, including closure and forgiveness, as well as selfishness and fear. Imbued with magic and the perfect amount of gravitas, there are many rules around these meetings: Only the living can make requests and they can only have one meeting per lifetime. Additionally, the dead can deny a meeting—and, most importantly, once the dead person has met with a living person, they will be gone forever. With secrets shared, confessions made, and regrets cemented, these meetings lead to joy and sorrow in equal measure. In the final chapter, all of these visits—and their importance in the go-between’s life—begin to gracefully converge. As we learn the go-between’s identity, we watch him struggle with the magnitude and gravity of his work. At one point, he asks: “When a life was lost, who did it belong to? What were those left behind meant to do with the incomprehensible, inescapable loss?” Though the story can be repetitive, Tsujimura raises poignant and powerful questions about what the living owe not only the dead, but each other; and how we make peace with others and ourselves in the wake of overwhelming grief.
A touching novel about loss with a magical and mystical flourish.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9781668099834
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
Haig’s positive message will keep his fans happy.
A British widow travels to Ibiza and learns that it’s never too late to have a happy life.
In a world that seems to be getting more unstable by the moment, Haig’s novels are a steady ship in rough seas, offering a much-needed positive message. In works like the bestselling The Midnight Library (2020), he reminds us that finding out what you truly love and where you belong in the universe are the foundations of building a better existence. His latest book continues this upbeat messaging, albeit in a somewhat repetitive and facile way. Retired British schoolteacher Grace Winters discovers that an old acquaintance has died and left her a ramshackle home in Ibiza. A widow who lost her only child years earlier, Grace is at first reluctant to visit the house, because, at 72, she more or less believes her chance for happiness is over—but when she rouses herself to travel to the island, she discovers the opposite is true. A mystery surrounds her friend’s death involving a roguish islander, his activist daughter, an internationally famous DJ, and a strange glow in the sea that acts as a powerful life force and upends Grace’s ideas of how the cosmos works. Framed as a response to a former student’s email, the narrative follows Grace’s journey from skeptic (she was a math teacher, after all) to believer in the possibility of magic as she learns to move on from the past. Her transformation is the book’s main conflict, aside from a protest against an evil developer intent on destroying Ibiza’s natural beauty. The outcome is never in doubt, and though the story often feels stretched to the limit—this novel could have easily been a novella—the author’s insistence on the power of connection to change lives comes through loud and clear.
Haig’s positive message will keep his fans happy.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780593489277
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
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