An offbeat and sometimes-meandering work that, like the titular museum, memorializes a time of hope with grace and insight.
Averett’s novel follows a boy from birth to adulthood and chronicles his heart-rending journey of self-discovery, blending elements of magical realism, Native American mythology, and nostalgic fiction.
Set largely in the Pacific Northwest, and particularly the inland farm country of Washington state, the story begins in 1950 with the birth of Henry James George. From an early age, Henry’s life is filled with wonder and tragedy. He has an unusual, supernatural power: Whenever he reads classic novels out loud, he miraculously heals people of dread afflictions. Mrs. Obregon, a local Chehalis curandera, or healer, believes that his abilities are part of his destiny to do great things. However, his power hasn’t helped him to avoid emotional pain and loneliness throughout his life. As he works, and lives, in a museum dedicated to the glorious prosperity of post–World War II America, Henry eventually realizes that his healing powers—and the fact that he’s part of a generation called “the blessed children of the future”—don’t mean all that much without love, connection, and hope. Averett’s characterization of Henry is a clear strength of the novel; the gifted man’s naïveté and purity of spirit make his quest an emotionally powerful experience. The author complements this with a tone that mirrors the era’s sense of awe, as in this passage, in which the museum’s curator talks about the Waste-Away garbage disposal unit: “You connect this under your sink and no longer have to contend with messy wet garbage. Turn the switch, and this little wonder chews it up and carries it away….I just love Westinghouse.” Readers may not have a firm idea of where the serpentine narrative is headed for much of the novel—characters make appearances and then aren’t heard about again for numerous chapters—but that may very well be the point. The “River o’ Life,” as Henry’s grandfather puts it,is unpredictable, after all, and no one knows just what the future holds.
An offbeat and sometimes-meandering work that, like the titular museum, memorializes a time of hope with grace and insight.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2023
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
Great crime fiction.
An apparent suicide threatens to destroy an Irish farm town in the final volume of French’s Cal Hooper trilogy.
In the fictional western Ireland townland of Ardnakelty, “there’s a girl going after missing.” Soon young Rachel Holohan is found dead in the river. Shortly before, she had stopped at Lena Dunne’s home, and nothing had seemed amiss. The medical examiner determines she’d swallowed antifreeze, and he presumes she then fell from a bridge into the water. The medical examiner and the town agree she’d died by suicide. But there is far more to the plot: 16-year-old Trey Reddy thinks Tommy Moynihan murdered Rachel. Moynihan doles out favors and punishments to the local townsfolk, who know it’s best not to cross him. Now rumors spread that Moynihan wants land and has a secret plan to forcibly buy up parcels from the locals. A factory will be built, or a great big data center, or who knows what. If Tommy’s son, Eugene, can get elected to the local council, then compulsory purchase orders for land will follow, and the farms will disappear. Eugene, who’d been romantically involved with Rachel, is wonderfully described as “on the weedy edge of good-looking” and just fine as long as you “don’t have high expectations in the way of chins.” Lena is engaged to the American Cal Hooper, an ex-cop turned woodworker. They are “more or less raising” Trey, and these three core characters are drawn into the mystery of Rachel’s death and may have to face the looming clouds of civilizational change for Ardnakelty. Lena is chastised for “asking your wee questions all round the townland,” and Trey wants to quit school, against Cal’s advice. Finally, the story’s best line: “You can’t go killing people just because they deserve it.”
Great crime fiction.Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593493465
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
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