A heartfelt debut.
A floundering 30-something searches for purpose at a writers residency in the French Riviera.
When 23-year-old Poppy Banks met her elusive Aunt Margot for the first time, she wasn't sure what to expect. But Margot, who had been estranged from Poppy’s mother for decades, turned out to be the exact opposite of her sister, who had always fat-shamed Poppy and belittled her dreams of becoming a novelist. Full of infectious joie de vivre and endless encouragement, Margot became a beloved figure in Poppy’s life through secret annual lunch dates over the next nine years. Now, at 32, Poppy is no closer to being a published writer outside her soul-sucking job at content mill Thought Buzz. When Poppy tells Margot she’s ready to give up on writing, Margot cryptically makes her promise to say yes to anything good that comes her way. Six months later, Margot is dead and Poppy learns the truth: Margot ran a writers colony at her villa on the French Riviera, and she left it to Poppy to keep or sell, with two stipulations: Poppy must remain in France for at least six months, and she must draft a book while she’s there. When Poppy arrives, she’s met with gorgeous vistas, a handsome man who works for The Colony, and a life-changing $700,000 offer to sell the estate. Is this Poppy’s big chance to become a writer or to get out for good? Poppy’s struggles with her body image often feel shoehorned into the plot, and her relationship with her mother—far more interesting than the book’s romance—isn’t explored deeply enough. But the author deftly captures how it feels to be of a certain age without possessing the life one had hoped for, and descriptions of the sun-soaked French Riviera are rich and vivid.
A heartfelt debut.Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780778334200
Page Count: 300
Publisher: Park Row Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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
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