An intense exploration of a complicated family.
Three generations of a Puerto Rican family deal with spiritual and interpersonal conflict in Engelman’s debut novel.
This sprawling story moves back and forth in time with various sections set in the 1920s, when a young boy in Puerto Rico named Rosendo is sold to a santera (a female Santeria priest) to participate in her rituals; the ’50s, as the Puerto Rican nationalist movement launches a doomed fight for independence; and the ’70s and, later, the ’80s, when Rosendo’s granddaughter, Esther, deals with the fallout of her parents’ dysfunctional marriage as her mother, Isabel, searches for answers through her own Santeria practice. Rosendo eventually frees himself from the santera’s abuse and ends up working as a day laborer who has little sympathy for his half brother Alberto’s enthusiasm for the independence movement. After Alberto goes missing, Rosendo rapes Alberto’s girlfriend, Paula; when she becomes pregnant, she and Rosendo are forced into marriage and move together to San Juan. A decade later, Alberto returns, and after getting the reluctant Paula and Rosendo involved in the periphery of the nationalist uprising, he convinces them to move to New York for a fresh start. Their story is interwoven with Isabel's increasing involvement in Santeria and Esther’s struggle to make sense of the unbalanced adults in her life. The book is steeped in Puerto Rican history and culture, and Engelman's vivid prose (“a clandestine, secret community, a family that transformed their jewel-box living rooms into festive drum circles”) brings the many descriptions of Santeria rituals to life. (The mishandling of Spanish last names is the only jarring note in an otherwise authentic cultural portrayal.) The story is bleak, with abuse and dysfunction passed down from one generation to the next, and although Esther and Isabel eventually land on a version of happiness, it is hard won. The book does an excellent job of capturing the essence of a community facing challenges from external and internal forces, and it delivers an intimate, emotionally resonant portrait of a complicated family.
An intense exploration of a complicated family.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2020
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
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
© 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.
