An often appealing, well-informed novel about cultural differences and animal rights.
A California veterinarian travels to Japan to protest animal slaughter and meets a carefree executive in Pourasgari’s novel.
American Tessa Walker visited her aunt in Japan when she was young and has since been haunted by a particular memory: In coastal Taiji, when she was 16, she witnessed the slaughter of dolphins in a bloody bay. Now 40, she’s still troubled by the recollection and plans a trip to Japan to protest the commercial killing of dolphins and whales: “It was personal. For her, it had all started in Japan, and it would have to end here.” Upon arrival, her friend Akira, an American who lives in Tokyo, shows her around and teaches her about complexities of Japanese culture, including specific traditions of gift giving. While alone one day, a drunk, obnoxious man, out with his buddies, grabs and kisses Tessa on a dare. She feels violated, slaps him, and tells him off. Sometime later, she sees him again on the street and grabs and kisses him in front of his girlfriend to embarrass him. She eventually finds out that he’s the son of the co-owner of a clothing corporation. Tessa initially sees him as rich and spoiled but finds herself intrigued by him, and the feeling is mutual. As the day of the protest approaches, she’s opened Toshiro’s eyes to the issue but has also attracted the attention of the police, who watch her closely. Pourasgari presents a multifaceted novel that is as much about travel and culture clashes as it is an unexpected story of a relationship, with a protagonist who brings a refreshingly seasoned perspective to the proceedings. As a veterinarian, Tessa’s concern for animals is convincing and heartfelt. Toshiro’s introduction, achieved through unlikely chance meetings in Tokyo, is handled in a clunky manner, but his role develops and becomes more complicated as the book goes on, and his feelings about visitors from abroad add complexity. Tessa’s exposure to and ruminations on Japan’s culture are also carefully considered.
An often appealing, well-informed novel about cultural differences and animal rights.Pub Date: Jan. 23, 2023
ISBN: 9780977978045
Page Count: 456
Publisher: Linbrook Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2022
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
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.
Childhood friends, almost-sweethearts, a misunderstanding, and a funeral.
Blair Lang and Declan Renshaw were best friends who went on one date before a disagreement and an accident sent them in different directions after high school. Now Blair is back from college to be with her great-aunt Lottie, who’s dying, and to support her single mother in small-town Seabrook, California. Finding a job at a coffee shop puts her in the path of her former boyfriend, since he turns out to be its owner. Can the two get past their mistakes? The novel uses the popular second-chance romance trope, but Pham fails to energize it through interesting characters. Blair’s grief over her great-aunt’s death and her plan to help her mother are overshadowed by internal monologues about her feelings, the way her friends aren’t paying attention to her, and the novel she plans to write. Declan’s distinguishing characteristic, besides being a former high school quarterback, is his skill at building birdhouses. Unsurprisingly, the couple doesn’t have much chemistry; when they embrace, their “bodies meld like…memory foam.” The wooden characters, unusual word choices (“conglomerate of pedestrians,” “litany of plants”), and odd turns of phrase (“tension melting from his eyebrows like butter melting in a warm pan”) are almost enough to obscure the lack of plot development. What passes for stakes is easily defused when Blair comes into an inheritance that saves her from working as a consultant at Ernst & Young in New York—so she can write a romance novel.
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781668095188
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
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