A tender novel about living with a disability.
A young therapy assistant makes a life-changing breakthrough with a disabled man in Hirschi’s novel.
Twenty-three-year-old Matthew Walker, who has cerebral palsy, can’t speak or otherwise express himself. He’s at the mercy of assistants, who care for him while his mother, Martha Walker, spends the day at work as a cashier. She’s in the dark about what Matt feels or thinks; she assumes that he’s unable to form complex thoughts after a doctor cruelly refers to Matt’s brain as equivalent to “a head of lettuce”: “Society and the medical profession had long ago given up on him. His other personal assistants mostly treated him as a living body bag, a useless sack of flesh, bones, blood, and skin.” Things start to change, however, when Timmy, a young, new assistant, starts treating Matt with more compassion. Timmy sees a spark in Matt, and, after much effort, Matt manages to give him a signal that he understands him; it turns out that Matt has fallen in love with the assistant, although he doesn’t reveal this. When Timmy shares news of the communication breakthrough with Martha, however, she responds with anger, frustration, and disbelief.In a fit of rage, Martha has Timmy fired, and his replacement, Colin, abuses Matt, plunging him into a world of horror. Over the course of this work, Hirschi deftly depicts a harrowing experience of violence. The pacing of events starts to drags somewhat as the book goes on. Overall, though, Hirschi weaves a poignant story of compassion, love, and the complexities of living disabled. Each chapter is told from a different viewpoint, including Matt’s, exposing the horror and shame caused by abuse. When Martha realizes that Matt is going through such torment, she begs for Timmy to return, and when the assistant comes back into Matt’s life, the author effectively shows how a new world opens up for both of them.
A tender novel about living with a disability.Pub Date: April 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-78645-409-6
Page Count: 254
Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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 dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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