Fun, inventive fiction that refreshes the fantasy genre with elements of black heritage and culture.
A collection of six stories that bridge fantasy and realism, with a focus on the supernatural and the unexpected.
The stories in this inventive collection take familiar premises from fantasy—a king's precocious son gets into trouble, immortal beings pine for prior centuries and invigorate them with elements of black and African American cultures: The king rocks multicolored kente robes, and the undying crack up at BET's ComicView. The result is a refreshing take on favorite tropes, and the stories are fun and full of humor. In "Among the Zoologists," a narrator dressed in a wizard's robe en route to a convention is intercepted by sex-obsessed scientists: "They weren't going to the comic show." "Seven Watsons," the opening story and perhaps the best, unfolds in black vernacular and slides easily into the perspective of the narrator, Flexo, a young man doing his best to get by in the crowded, tumultuous world of the Job Corps. Flexo and his bunkmates welcome Chris, a new member whose tattoo of a goose lifting away from cattails earns him the nickname Duck, a misnomer. Additional, tiny details accumulate like breadcrumbs, making an unexpected turn to the otherworldly totally surprising and yet absolutely fitting. While not every cultural reference lands perfectly ("She waited for a bolt of confidence to dive like the Tuskegee Airmen and rescue her from timidity"), most are stunning, subtle details, seamlessly woven into the texture of each story, as when the king plans a "feast of yam and rice, goblin liver and suckled unicorn" or when the immortal women "adorned their colossal church hats with feathers and sequins and leaves."
Fun, inventive fiction that refreshes the fantasy genre with elements of black heritage and culture.Pub Date: June 9, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-61873-173-9
Page Count: 324
Publisher: Small Beer Press
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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 touching novel about loss with a magical and mystical flourish.
A young man helps the living and dead meet one last time under the full moon.
Japanese bestseller Tsujimura’s quiet novel follows a mysterious teenager known as the go-between, who can set up meetings between the living and the dead. An introverted woman wants to meet the television star with whom she has a parasocial relationship. A cynical eldest son hopes to visit his mother about their family business. A devastated high schooler fears she is responsible for her friend’s tragic death. And, finally, a middle-aged workaholic finally feels ready to find out if his fiancée, who disappeared seven years ago, is dead. Each character has a uniquely personal reason for seeking out the deceased, including closure and forgiveness, as well as selfishness and fear. Imbued with magic and the perfect amount of gravitas, there are many rules around these meetings: Only the living can make requests and they can only have one meeting per lifetime. Additionally, the dead can deny a meeting—and, most importantly, once the dead person has met with a living person, they will be gone forever. With secrets shared, confessions made, and regrets cemented, these meetings lead to joy and sorrow in equal measure. In the final chapter, all of these visits—and their importance in the go-between’s life—begin to gracefully converge. As we learn the go-between’s identity, we watch him struggle with the magnitude and gravity of his work. At one point, he asks: “When a life was lost, who did it belong to? What were those left behind meant to do with the incomprehensible, inescapable loss?” Though the story can be repetitive, Tsujimura raises poignant and powerful questions about what the living owe not only the dead, but each other; and how we make peace with others and ourselves in the wake of overwhelming grief.
A touching novel about loss with a magical and mystical flourish.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9781668099834
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
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