There are more questions than answers in this dreamlike novel of dissociation—but that's also part of its thrill.
A young woman with an identity for each day of the week must decide if her coping mechanism allows her to lead the life she desires.
For a little more than a decade, Kinga Sikora has taken it one day of the week at a time. The Kinga who manages Mondays, Kinga-A, is the designated “squad leader,” capable, efficient, and a little bossy. Kinga-B is a shrewd pessimist who resents Kinga-A's condescension. Kinga-C, an adventurous risk-taker. In total, there are eight Kingas, including the original, currently in retreat. We meet each woman in the pages of their collective diary, where they record memories for the benefit of other iterations—everything from appointments with their psychotherapist to details about their jobs, crushes, and preferences. Kinga-A frets that one identity is secretly plotting to take over for good on the occasion of their name day, forcing each successive Kinga to come clean about what they've really been up to with their time—and what they really want. This is Oyeyemi's second novel set in Prague, and the city seems to have encouraged her trickster storytelling instincts. The book is a surrealist romp, filled with money-laundering strip clubs, temperamental perfumers, handsome men hogtied in the pantry, and other oddities. Meanwhile, the truth about why Kinga has chosen her segmented life flits in and out of the periphery, never quite coming fully into view. Ultimately, it seems, the original Kinga wanted the freedom to change her story, but she couldn't accept that transformation felt forever out of reach. Oyeyemi offers us an existential farce that wrestles with what it means to reconcile all the pieces of yourself, especially when they're in constant disagreement about how best to live a life.
There are more questions than answers in this dreamlike novel of dissociation—but that's also part of its thrill.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9780593718773
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
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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