A rousing trio of women anchors this potent tale about class and race.
In this contemporary urban novella, three Black women of varying skin tones struggle with violence and romantic dissatisfaction in Southern California.
Dorch’s brisk tale follows the lives of three women whose skin color and choices begin to subtly dictate their career and social life trajectories. Sonnie Black, a spirited Los Angeles child welfare social worker, is mentoring new employee Denice Gray on her human services cases. Both women have interactions with Tyrone Wilson, an arrogant, intimidating, and manipulating court reporter in the office who is “the color of blackberries.” Sonnie defiantly challenges Tyrone about his demeaning behavior and brings him to her church services. Despite Sonnie being unhappily single, she is hesitant to begin another relationship after a disastrous interlude with an English professor in her master’s degree program a few years prior. Done with Tyrone, Sonnie is immediately smitten with Denice’s brother, Howard, a local politician with a “massive blond afro, green eyes, and olive skin,” but she still has unresolved trust issues. When Tyrone violates Denice after a night out and then blackmails her, the story shifts into high gear. The melodrama with Tyrone could jeopardize Denice’s romantic future with a junior pastor. Meanwhile, Lisa Steel, one of Sonnie’s more challenging welfare cases, seems disinterested in getting a job because of her family ties to a dangerous Colombian drug dealer. These women bring Dorch’s narrative to vibrant life. They lean on their Christian belief systems for guidance, making the story particularly appealing to religious readers. From a racial perspective, the tale is primarily concerned with themes of “colorism,” which is considered a form of prejudice and discrimination occurring within and outside of an ethnic community. In the book’s preface, the author—an artist and psychologist—remarks that this can have drastic social implications and determine “who gets ahead, who gets convicted, and who gets elected,” and it “influences health, wealth, and opportunities for success.” Through her dynamic collection of characters, Dorch illustrates and illuminates this pernicious societal ill, and in a gratifying ending, her characters grow to realize their strengths and worthiness.
A rousing trio of women anchors this potent tale about class and race.Pub Date: June 28, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66323-405-6
Page Count: 102
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.
A French art historian’s English-language fiction debut combines the story of a loving relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter with an enlightening discussion of art.
One day, when 10-year-old Mona removes the necklace given to her by her now-dead grandmother, she experiences a frightening, hour-long bout of blindness. Her parents take her to the doctor, who gives her a variety of tests and also advises that she see a psychiatrist. Her grandfather Henry tells her parents that he will take care of that assignment, but instead, he takes Mona on weekly visits to either the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, or the Centre Pompidou, where each week they study a single work of art, gazing at it deeply and then discussing its impact and history and the biography of its maker. For the reader’s benefit, Schlesser also describes each of the works in scrupulous detail. As the year goes on, Mona faces the usual challenges of elementary school life and the experiences of being an only child, and slowly begins to understand the causes of her temporary blindness. Primarily an amble through a few dozen of Schlesser’s favorite works of art—some well known and others less so, from Botticelli and da Vinci through Basquiat and Bourgeois—the novel would probably benefit from being read at a leisurely pace. While the dialogue between Henry and the preternaturally patient and precocious Mona sometimes strains credulity, readers who don’t have easy access to the museums of Paris may enjoy this vicarious trip in the company of a guide who focuses equally on that which can be seen and the context that can’t be. Come for the novel, stay for the introductory art history course.
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798889661115
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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
SEEN & HEARD
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