An inspiring finale about the strength of women and the bonds of sisterhood.
In the final installment of Allen’s Black Girls Must Die Exhausted series, Tabitha Walker embarks on a journey of motherhood, friendship, and self-confidence.
It’s been three weeks since Tabitha welcomed little Tabitha Evelyn Walker Brown into the world, and motherhood is fixing to be her most daunting job yet. She’s spent the better part of a month cleaning up diaper blowouts and soaking in precious moments with Evie while on maternity leave from her weekend anchor gig at Los Angeles’ KVTV news station. Tabby left the station in a bit of uproar after conducting an unsanctioned live segment, and she’s worried that her job may be on the line. That’s not the only thing worrying her: Three weeks have passed since she refused a marriage proposal from Evie’s father, Marc Brown. Tabby knows he wants to provide for her and their child, but she can’t help having a few reservations about him. Even worse, Marc invited his judgmental mother to stay for a few weeks without consulting Tabby. Luckily, Tabitha’s friends Alexis and Laila always have her back, although Laila’s new business has made her go MIA lately. While Tabby is juggling a newborn, breastfeeding issues, one pushy mother-in-law, a BFF crisis, and a looming engagement, one more giant serving is heaped onto her plate: There’s an opening at the news station for a prime-time slot. Tabitha begins to wonder if it’s possible for her to really have it all or if she will crumble under the pressure. In the last book about Tabitha’s journey, she’s introduced to several stressors that would make anyone sweat, much less the mother of a newborn. Yet Tabitha is surrounded by positive reinforcement and remarkable women, both of which help make Allen’s trilogy a must-read. It’s refreshing to see Tabitha gain confidence over the course of the novel as she navigates being a mother, a friend, a daughter, and a career woman who’s faced with life-changing decisions, and while it’s not seamless, it sure is powerful.
An inspiring finale about the strength of women and the bonds of sisterhood.Pub Date: April 11, 2023
ISBN: 9780063137943
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Harper Perennial/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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