Romance is only part of the payoff in this quirky yet humane story of a lonely shopkeeper conquering her fears.
In this bildungsroman of middle age, an aspiring bookseller wrestles her fears for love and professional fulfillment.
The aspiring Philadelphia bookstore proprietor at the center of this dreamily lyrical debut struggles with a phobia of touch that has long stymied her deepest desires. As the 40-year-old heroine—known only as “The Shopkeeper” for most of the novel—confesses to her writing-group classmates, she has never been kissed. And she’d like to change that. But more pressingly, the Shopkeeper—like the author, who is the proprietor of the real Harriett’s Bookshop in Philadelphia—is on the verge of fulfilling a lifelong dream of opening a bookstore named after her guide and inspiration, the legendary abolitionist and freedom fighter Harriet Tubman. But a shopkeeper who can’t come near her customers for fear of passing out is at a disadvantage. Since childhood, the Shopkeeper’s condition—haphephobia—has been so severe that a simple touch can cause her to feel a shock of electricity and lose consciousness. So she’s lived in her head, taking refuge in books—so much so that at times it’s hard for her (and for the reader) to distinguish what’s really happening from imagination. Now though, on the cusp of a new year, the Shopkeeper is determined; she has “declared this her year to conquer fear” and finally open the doors of the store. Joining that purposeful writing group “designed to help slowly bring trauma to the surface in a controlled manner” is part of the plan. Falling for a mysterious bearded man who says he, too, can’t be touched because he’s in training to be a monk is not. But he keeps popping up like magic. With his help and that of family and friends, change is finally within reach.
Romance is only part of the payoff in this quirky yet humane story of a lonely shopkeeper conquering her fears.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780063430952
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.
Childhood friends, almost-sweethearts, a misunderstanding, and a funeral.
Blair Lang and Declan Renshaw were best friends who went on one date before a disagreement and an accident sent them in different directions after high school. Now Blair is back from college to be with her great-aunt Lottie, who’s dying, and to support her single mother in small-town Seabrook, California. Finding a job at a coffee shop puts her in the path of her former boyfriend, since he turns out to be its owner. Can the two get past their mistakes? The novel uses the popular second-chance romance trope, but Pham fails to energize it through interesting characters. Blair’s grief over her great-aunt’s death and her plan to help her mother are overshadowed by internal monologues about her feelings, the way her friends aren’t paying attention to her, and the novel she plans to write. Declan’s distinguishing characteristic, besides being a former high school quarterback, is his skill at building birdhouses. Unsurprisingly, the couple doesn’t have much chemistry; when they embrace, their “bodies meld like…memory foam.” The wooden characters, unusual word choices (“conglomerate of pedestrians,” “litany of plants”), and odd turns of phrase (“tension melting from his eyebrows like butter melting in a warm pan”) are almost enough to obscure the lack of plot development. What passes for stakes is easily defused when Blair comes into an inheritance that saves her from working as a consultant at Ernst & Young in New York—so she can write a romance novel.
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781668095188
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
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