An honest and well-considered look at the sweetness and stings of motherhood.
Two unexpected pregnancies birth revelations in Norman-Carbone’s novel.
In the early 2000s, Harper Alexander and Raina Edwin are both considering motherhood in their Georgia towns. Harper and her husband, Gabe, have careers that afford them an upper-middle-class lifestyle complete with a house in a well-to-do neighborhood. Raina is a homemaker, and her husband runs their farm. Before marrying Gabe, Harper made it clear she didn’t want kids (“Not having children had been part of the unwritten marriage contract”); Raina, on the other hand, already a mother of three, works to convince her husband to agree to having a fourth. When Harper unexpectedly becomes pregnant, her world eventually collides with Raina’s. In the late 1960s, high school senior Callie Sebastian is in a forbidden relationship with an older man. When she becomes pregnant, her mother Evelyn’s main concern seems to be its effect on the family’s standing in their wealthy southern community—a child born out of wedlock will not do. Callie is sent away, and a rupture between her and her family grows, unlikely to ever be mended. As the women navigate complicated situations, they each come to epic crossroads. Norman-Carbone doesn’t use overly descriptive language, focusing instead on the characters’ inner thoughts and driving action (the way in which she hints at what might lie beneath the surface is tastefully done). Unfortunately, the honey referenced in the title is never satisfyingly woven into the narrative in a significant way despite its importance to the story. Through the three main female characters, the author keenly explores varied perspectives on motherhood, taking care to touch on emotions that inform each character, including innocent and naïve yearning; anxious, trauma-induced smothering; a blissful appreciation of a calling; and a reckoning with an unexpected change of heart.
An honest and well-considered look at the sweetness and stings of motherhood.Pub Date: April 4, 2024
ISBN: 9781958231463
Page Count: 334
Publisher: Red Adept Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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