Fans of writers from Maeve Binchy to Alice McDermott to J. Courtney Sullivan will relish this big-hearted novel.
A family saga that marries time-tested tropes with distinctly modern dilemmas.
The Ryans have gathered for Thanksgiving on Long Island’s North Fork, and in spite of the three generations at the table, there’s a hole: Everyone misses Topher, whose death by suicide as a young adult they all blame on a 25-years-past boating tragedy involving a neighbor’s son. Topher’s parents, Nora and Robert; his siblings, Alice, Cait, and Maggie; his niece and nephews; his best friend, Luke Larkin—all remain devastated by the loss, and all have their own immediate problems, too. Nora, who grew up in a harsh Irish orphanage, clings to her Catholic faith; Robert tries and fails to keep up their large coastal home, known as the Folly. Scenes past and present exude authenticity, from teenagers pounding beers on a dock to the family vegan scarfing down a huge slice of apple pie with ice cream, on to Robert’s shooting of a rabid raccoon, his grandchildren looking on in horror. The family daughters are dutiful (Alice), distracted (Cait), and discombobulated (Maggie), each hiding something important from the rest of the family for good reasons, but with terrible timing about what they tell to whom, when. They constantly speculate on what the others think and know and suspect as their perspectives hold sway over different chapters. Occasionally these different views wind up confusing: Is Cait’s son Finn older than his brother James? What happened to the Larkins? Who was Maggie’s old flame Sarah again? and so on. However, if the windup is a bit chaotic, the revelations are worth it, and show that even the most rigid members of a family can learn to bend when deep love and affection exist. An “Irish goodbye” refers to slipping out of a party early without thanks or leave-taking. O’Neill allows her entire cast of characters to exit on a beautiful, yet unresolved, note.
Fans of writers from Maeve Binchy to Alice McDermott to J. Courtney Sullivan will relish this big-hearted novel.Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781250408150
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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
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