An engrossing account of history on a personal scale.
Coyle dramatizes the early events of the Revolutionary War in this historical novel.
The war is on, and everyone must decide where they stand. Blacksmith’s apprentice Anthony Carter made his choice early: The 16-year-old militiaman was one of those who fired on the king’s soldiers as they marched back from Concord to Boston, and he helped defend Breed’s Hill until the ammunition ran out. Farther south, Edward Shields is the heir, on his mother’s side, to one of New York colony’s great mercantile dynasties…that is, if his family’s property makes it through the war intact. It’s hardly a sure thing, given that his loyalist father is seeking to win the crown’s favor by joining the British Army. Edward, a born rebel and member of the Liberty Boys, has decided to join the conflict as well—though not on the same side as his father. Lady Katherine Trent, a rare businesswoman of the era, has loved ones on both sides of the conflict; her unorthodox career has given her no love of the status quo, and she harbors a deep belief that “long shots had a habit of paying off, provided one was willing to set aside their fears and persevere.” A Scottish frontiersman, a French military observer, and a loyal British soldier help fill out the cast of characters, all of whom discover that the smallest decisions can take on the towering weight of history. Coyle renders the calculations of colonial Americans with greater nuance than one normally associates with tales of the Revolution: “That a day of reckoning was coming was never in doubt…more uncertain...was what the cost of victory would be, even to those who had allied themselves with the winning side.” He deftly weaves his characters through events of the first year of the conflict—up to Washington’s crossing of the Delaware—in a way that somehow makes the outcome seem in doubt. Readers will not only feel transported to the time period—they will see it anew.
An engrossing account of history on a personal scale.Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9798985788648
Page Count: 418
Publisher: Master Wings Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
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
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
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