Funny, allegorical, and profound stories.
Characters burdened by guilt, regret, and ostensible madness populate White’s collection of provocative tales.
Amy Sullivan is excited to be on her own attending the University of Minnesota in “The Enigma Man.” She’s ready to explore the wonders far away from her Iowa hometown, like the mysterious titular figure who frequents the library where she works. But learning about this man may not bring her the answers she wants. It’s a dispassion that characters experience throughout White’s book. Joseph Singer of “Winter Journeys,” for example, is a man who’s never accepted his biological father as a dad and considers himself an unwanted child. The author typically fills his stories with metaphors. In the case of “The Antijew,” a legendary creature’s most recent incarnation is Sol Pinsky, who, despite little recognition, inexplicably earns 93% of the popular vote in the U.S. presidential election. The stories are multilayered, including those with overt religious themes. “A Brief History of Madness,” for one, follows Joseph Christman, an orphan who ultimately becomes an apprentice carpenter. But it’s also about a boy at a Catholic college whose professor deems him insolent merely for questioning biblical stories. White’s prose is simple yet elegant: A rabbi describes a reputedly invisible wagon as, “A magic wagon to be sure, but magic or no, it makes a lot of noise if you drive it too fast. I am afraid that there is no magic for that.” There are instances of wry humor as well. In the title story, a werewolf in the town of Polnoye is primarily a nuisance, disrupting men’s prayers and making “shambles” of bar mitzvahs. How the townsfolk handle said wolf is pleasantly surprising. The book features Chicago-based artist Segedin’s work in various media (acrylic, watercolor, etc.), showcasing a consistent style spanning decades.
Funny, allegorical, and profound stories. (author bio, artist’s bio)Pub Date: March 9, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-09-830349-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Book Baby
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 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
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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