A fearsome, hopeful, cautionary tale of otherness, hatred, and rebirth.
A traveling sideshow and a conservative town clash in late 1990s Scotland in this debut novel.
The Freakslaw rolls into Pitlaw one afternoon, showcasing its collection of misfits and weirdos to the town’s conservative (and repressed) residents. The group sets up shop in an old abandoned field and gets to work setting up tents. The locals say there’s no way they’ll attend, but as the freaks make their way into town, the residents’ curiosity is heightened, and some find themselves drawn in when the show finally opens. But there is fury in the soil in Pitlaw, a deep-seated rage passed down through the centuries that doesn’t like its town being messed with. The show’s stop in Pitlaw will change the townspeople forever, but the question is whether it will be for good or ill. Flett has created an incredibly physical world full of magic and consequences. There’s a character list at the beginning of the novel and, indeed, there are almost too many people to keep track of, between the various denizens of both the carnival and the town. While the most important ones stand out—Nancy, the young witch of the carnival; Zed, the free-spirited waltzer boy; Ruth, the no-nonsense teen determined to get out of Pitlaw; Derek, the quiet boy stuck under his father’s thumb—there are so many that it becomes hard to keep track of them as the chapters dance back and forth between the magical misfits and the staid townsfolk. The action paces ever onward to an ultimate conflagration, and the writing is visceral. There are no details left to the imagination, all the blood and guts, hate and joy on full display. The Freakslaw is a place for outcasts to find their voices, and Flett has certainly displayed hers as she welcomes readers to her powerful imagination.
A fearsome, hopeful, cautionary tale of otherness, hatred, and rebirth.Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781638932666
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Zando
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 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
Though uneven, this is still a pleasurable, comforting read.
Infertility, family secrets, and alpacas all figure in Quindlen’s latest meditation on mothering and domesticity.
Polly’s life looks enviable. Happily married to the adoring Mark—a vet at the Bronx Zoo—she teaches English at a private Manhattan girls’ school and loves her work. She has a protective older brother and close girlfriends, who’ve formed a book club where no one is expected to read the book. But Polly desperately wants a child and, at 42, knows time is running out. She and Mark have gone through endless fertility treatments, to no avail. Meantime, Polly’s friends have given her a DNA kit as a jokey birthday gift, and something mysterious shows up in the test results. Then, out of nowhere, a young woman contacts her, suggesting they may be related. That’s not all: Polly feels estranged from her mother, a revered judge who’s insufficiently maternal in her daughter’s view. Her father has always cherished her, but he’s in a nursing home now with a rapidly failing mind. And something is amiss with her best pal, Sarah. Quindlen’s trademark empathy is evident throughout, and her wry humor leavens some of the serious goings-on. Early on, Mark and Polly visit a fertility clinic with photos of babies in the waiting room; for Polly, “it felt…like a Weight Watchers facility with hot fudge sundae pictures on the wall.” Then we meet these charming alpacas, humming and pronking, on a farm run by an earth mother, whose wisdom will help Polly get on with her life. The plot swerves around a bit, there may be one surplus narrative thread (e.g., Polly’s star student Josephine running aground after graduation), and at the end, the author ties things up too neatly, pushing the “circle of life” theme too hard.
Though uneven, this is still a pleasurable, comforting read.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
ISBN: 9780593734605
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
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