A postmodern fairy tale, by turns evoking horror and wonder, that scrutinizes the relationship between myth and history.
In a fabulist novella, a Jewish man bound for a concentration camp throws one of his twin babies from a moving train; a Polish countrywoman finds the child and raises her as her own.
As he and countless other deported French Jews rush toward doom, a father realizes that his wife does not have enough milk to feed both of their infants and so makes the unthinkable decision to throw one of the babies, wrapped in a prayer shawl, from the moving train. As fairy-tale logic would have it, a poor childless woman in the forests of Poland discovers the baby, and she and her husband risk their own lives to raise the girl as their own. Thus the father’s Sophie’s Choice is redeemed and shown to be one of great humanity. On its face, this story—newly available in English thanks to Wynne’s beautiful translation from French—is about the devastating lengths to which parents will go for the sake of their children and about how saving one life can mean endangering another. But it is also an unlikely tale of survival during the Holocaust that is entirely aware of its unlikeliness. Grumberg uses fairy-tale conventions, but he does so winkingly. This self-consciousness reaches its zenith with a metafictional epilogue that directly addresses the idea of “true stories,” calling upon the reader to question their assumptions about historical fiction and about the relationships between myth and truth. With subtlety and intention, the novella ultimately implores us to consider the purpose of literature after tragedy: well-trodden thematic territory after 1945, to be sure, but approached here in a unique way. It is difficult, in 2020, to write a work of fiction about the Holocaust that is original; even simply in this sense, Grumberg’s work succeeds where many have failed.
A postmodern fairy tale, by turns evoking horror and wonder, that scrutinizes the relationship between myth and history.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06298179-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: HarperVia
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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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