An absorbing, French-accented story of a complex father-son bond.
A father and son strive to heal their relationship in a novel set in France and the United States.
Business is very good for Victor Marchand and his son, JP. Victor, who lives in France, is a “picker,” a buyer of traditional and authentic dismantled goods, while JP runs their import establishment, Les Beaux Châteaux, in Manhattan. Money means nothing to their rich clientele, which benefits both of them. But the death of Victor’s wife and JP’s mother, Frida, was a crushing blow. Never close, the father and son are drifting even further apart. JP feels a hollowness in his life. He takes a leave from the store and pours his energies into remodeling his mansion in the Hamptons. Then he flies to France to help his grieving father. On returning to New York, he finds that the office manager he trusted has absconded, emptied the safe, and wiped the computers clean. JP has to fight to start over, and father and son bond through the calamity. As they do, each get a shot at an enduring love: Victor with Caterina, a Russian expat, and JP with Veronique, a Frenchwoman, or Sharon Tracker, a brilliant Native American attorney. Along with their romantic entanglements, another story plays out as JP and Victor realize how much they need each other and enjoy spending time together. Will their new respect last, or will the men grow apart again? Screenwriter Marks creates truly rounded characters as she paints a memorable picture of the import business and the decline of small French towns, as when she writes: “French boulangeries used to be iconic and indubitable on the main street of every village in France. The buildings that housed them were often crafted to suit the needs of several generations, not only in the fortitude of the materials used—marble and mahogany, granite and walnut—but also in their classic, elegant proportion and simplicity….Today’s bakers either can’t make a living selling bread, or they won’t.” As readers root for JP and Victor to thrive, they’ll get a delicious taste of France.
An absorbing, French-accented story of a complex father-son bond.Pub Date: March 15, 2022
ISBN: 979-8985456608
Page Count: 250
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2022
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
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
