A literary mystery with dynamic characters and an investigation that’s more intriguing than its subject.
In this novel, a New York City book editor tries to track down the identity of the author of a long suicide note she wants to publish.
Liz is working as an editorial assistant at a New York publishing house and is conflicted about her job. She wants to be an executive, but the path upward is unclear. As it is, she’s in a cubicle poring through submissions from the slush pile and not finding anything good. It’s a lonely existence, and as a young immigrant from Jamaica, she doesn’t have family in town (“This toothless city is crushing me in its gummy jaws, slowly boring me to death with the whining of all the pretentious New Yorkers who think that title affords them some presumption of ‘toughness’ ”). An envelope arrives from Pittsburgh with a notebook inside, and a curious Liz finds it to be a long-form suicide note. The anonymous author asks if the house will publish the manuscript, but Liz is committed to a truly awful romance that her boss’s boss, Marcus, wants printed. Intrigued, Liz looks up recent obituaries in Pittsburgh, hoping to identify the author. Fatefully, she tells Marcus about the note, and he imagines it as a full-length book. Feeling burdened by the project, Liz travels to Pittsburgh to meet with families of the recently departed to see if they can help name the enigmatic author. Gordon’s premise for her novel is a perfect setup for a story involving sleuthing, self-doubt, and sometimes-unwanted success. Liz is an insightful character with a razor-sharp mind who has plenty to say, and her origins in the Caribbean distance her a little from some of the worn-out American takes on issues. But her frequent complaints about work don’t add up, as her bosses seem to cater to her and give her a significant promotion. The tale’s biggest flaw, though, is the mysterious notebook itself, whose writing is vague, endlessly philosophical, and not very engaging.
A literary mystery with dynamic characters and an investigation that’s more intriguing than its subject.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2021
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 266
Publisher: Jarvis Publishers
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2021
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 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 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.
