A touching work that follows one man’s lifelong pilgrimage towards love and selfhood.
Cobb’s novel follows a young man as he works as a farmhand, through his life in the priesthood, and into the final days of his loved ones’ lives.
In 1928, John Gauthier seeks out a job at Charles and Audrey Doty’s farm in rural Vermont. He’s an erudite, college-educated young man from a wealthy background who has no experience as a farmer or working with wood, tools, and guns. However, he’s eager to learn, and he and Charles eventually develop a close friendship; along the way, the Dotys welcome their first son, and Audrey’s 20-something sister Charlotte comes to live with them. Audrey hopes that John and Charlotte will make a match; a story of love unfolds in expected and unexpected ways, with a strong Christian theme. Cobb’s novel effectively braids John’s perspective in the early 1960s as an elderly priest and as a younger man in the late ’20s, when he began his life’s journey at the farm. Its offbeat opening shows an older John, now a monsignor, mentoring and encouraging a young man Patrick Colman, who is also rebellious and creative: “I’ve seen your essays, you’re the best writer in this school, the best since I’ve been here,” John says. “No one else is even a close second.” Cobb ably integrate themes of growth, individuation, and faith, and raises questions about what it truly means to love oneself, to love others, and to love God. Along the way, it engagingly asks readers to explore ideas of commitment, devotion, and family. The braided structure isn’t entirely successful, as there’s really only one full story, and some of the character relationships feel underdeveloped. However, it’s a heartwarming coming-of-age tale that may resonate with anyone who aspires, like John, to look for answers to life’s big questions.
A touching work that follows one man’s lifelong pilgrimage towards love and selfhood.Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9781578691753
Page Count: 254
Publisher: Rootstock Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 8, 2024
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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