An absorbing, sometimes grim look at a family’s darker side.
An out-of-work cameraman spends a revealing couple of days with his reticent father in this novel.
New Yorker Andy Silver’s 30th birthday won’t likely go on record as his favorite. His wife, Georgette, is leaving him, and his father, Al, wants Andy to chauffeur him around Manhattan for “important matters.” It’s been more than a year since Andy has spoken to Al, who lives in Florida, and he’s surprised at the airport to see that his father looks unwell. One item on Al’s agenda is for his business, which is primarily servicing water tanks. But nearly everything else is a shocking revelation for his son, including what Al is carrying in his attaché case and what he has in a safe deposit box. Al hasn’t exactly been an open book; Andy knows very little about his father’s tours in Vietnam. And now Al has a bevy of secrets, and many, like his extramarital affairs, are not necessarily things Andy wants to know. Meanwhile, the men’s spouses appear in concurrent narratives. Georgette returns to her home country of France for a less-than-happy reunion with her estranged mother. Al’s wife, Ruth, who claims she’s at a spa, is actually with a group of activists in New York state. They’re protesting about a treatment plant that is reputedly dumping fracking wastewater, and rather than merely picket, some opt for an act of civil disobedience—chaining themselves to a gate. Even as the main characters’ lives ultimately reconnect, there may still be emotional distances to overcome.
Baran’s tale is a potent character study. While Andy is taken aback by what he learns about his father, readers discover even more about the four central characters via backstories. For example, Georgette is a model who spent six months at a rehab center for drugs and may also suffer a sex addiction. These fairly somber backstories make for a bleak narrative, made even more so by their plausibility. Every character is flawed, and none of Al’s revelations are absurd or far-fetched. In fact, perhaps the most stunning secret is one Andy has known and harbored for a long time. Dry humor does offer a bit of relief, such as Al’s tendency to offend people. After watching a woman pick up after her dog, he pointlessly remarks: “Great exercise.” At the same time, the author doesn’t entirely saturate his novel in hopelessness. In the case of Andy and Georgette’s split, it’s apparent there’s still love between them and that a reconciliation is a possibility. The final act spins off into a touch of violence and legal trouble, though Baran’s gradual introduction of certain narrative elements (for example, Ruth’s protesting plan and someone’s handgun) makes these seem inevitable. The author’s prose is unadorned but concise, especially character descriptions. At one point, Al meets a woman in Italy: “Susan divorced a starter husband and married a rich widower for whom she worked. They had two children. After he died, she decided that no man would ever control her again.”
An absorbing, sometimes grim look at a family’s darker side. (acknowledgements)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 979-8-69-203095-5
Page Count: 347
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
