Clearly, the key requirement for successful beach house ownership is a (possibly illegal) sense of humor. Bring it on!
Long Island beach house update: Still ruining lives, one zoning violation and bachelorette party at a time.
"Never buy a beach house. Don't even dream about one. Don't save your money or call real estate agents or pick out a white couch. If you must do something, pray for the people who do own beach houses." Following in the fearsome footsteps of Amy Fusselman's The Means (2022), Castellano's wickedly funny debut unfurls in miserable yet gleeful detail the soul-sucking nightmare of owning a house on the Long Island oceanfront. As the novel opens, its narrator, Kathleen Deane, explains that just three years ago she was "a normal person [with] a husband, a job, and a house with no view in Kansas City." But when her husband leaves her to "find himself" on a four-month world cruise, she falls prey to a decade of Christmas letters from a childhood friend singing the praises of living in a beach town on Long Island. She purchases a 700-square-foot oyster shack, recently updated to include indoor plumbing, located in a spot so close to the waterfront that it's "practically floating." Then she drives out there, using the interstate highway system to traverse the five stages grief—denial in Missouri, anger in Illinois, etc.—ultimately becoming "the first person in history to reach acceptance on the Long Island Expressway." Arriving at her new digs, she's greeted by Rosemary, her neighbor from across the street, who draws her attention to a gigantic McMansion being built right next door to her shack. Rosemary will become her partner in a futile war against the construction of the Sugar Cube, which is steaming along with town-sanctioned exceptions to every ordinance on the books. Long and deeply hilarious emails from Kathleen to the town supervisor enumerate the outrages as they pile up, including the time the Sugar Cube's septic tank contaminates the water supply, sending her to the hospital; the illegal rental of the finished house as an Airbnb party venue; and her embroilment in an FBI money-laundering and racketeering sting. Not long after she gets settled in her new home, she takes a depression quiz from the AARP magazine: "a fun little treat!" When she reports that she's only "moderately" depressed, Rosemary comments presciently, "Well, there's still time."
Clearly, the key requirement for successful beach house ownership is a (possibly illegal) sense of humor. Bring it on!Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9780593469170
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Anchor
Review Posted Online: April 25, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
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
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
© Copyright 2025 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.
