A beautifully written tale of the Pacific Northwest, rich with myth and character.
Dunn’s novel chronicles the life of a pirate broadcaster raised in the harsh logging territories of the Pacific Northwest.
The novel begins with a modern version of one of the world’s oldest tales: A baby, abandoned but otherwise healthy, is discovered in a makeshift vessel along the watery shores. Lancelot Aloysius Bauer, better known as Bear, is living in the furthest northwest reaches of Washington state—where he has always lived—working in the logging industry, the only life he has known ever since he was a boy serving as a prep cook for ravenous loggers. One day, while strolling by the shallow waters just off the shore of the Pacific, he discovers a metal drum, and inside it, a lone baby. As simply as that, the care of this child is thrust upon him as if by divine providence. (In a nifty bit of irony in this narrative, which is steeped in the natural environment, the boy is named Petr, after the word on the side of the drum in which he was found: “Petroleum.”) Though Bear is wholly unprepared for fatherhood, his good-hearted attempts to parent do occasionally hit the mark, such as when he purchases Petr a Realtone TR-1088 transistor radio, which fosters the passion that comes to drive Petr’s young life: the medium of radio. As Petr’s fascination grows, he lights out on his own, broadcasting pirate radio waves from the enchanted forests of his native stomping grounds. Meanwhile, Baie, the novel’s other protagonist, is back in the area, fresh from a French monastery and looking to start over after the death of her parents—her story is a surprising but equal counterpart to Petr’s tale.
Dunn’s richly-drawn landscape of the remote stretches of the Pacific Northwest is rife with magic and mysticism, and the sense that larger, more cosmic forces are at play all around us—none more so than the narrator, revealed to be the voice of a sort of mythical raven. (Baie, too, has an animal companion—in her case, a white otter.) Separated as a youth from his flock, the raven is marooned near Mount Olympus and present from the very moment of Petr’s discovery. The raven’s journey inspires some of the author’s best prose: “My skull became a tuner, my beak an antenna, and as I received, I lost my compass. Alive with radio waves, my body skipped off the upper atmosphere. Brilliant as magnesium flame and then black as coal, I tumbled back to earth, vibrating.” Such colorful language abounds in Dunn’s text, and he employs his skills as a poet—he has published several volumes of poetry in addition to novels—to excellent effect to limn the inhabitants of his rich environment, especially when providing brief sketches of childhood (Bear’s, in particular) to contextualize his characters as adults. While the novel may be a touch longer than is strictly necessary, Dunn’s inventive, lush prose and his sense of playfulness between humans and animals (and animals and the Earth) will carry readers through to a satisfying conclusion.
A beautifully written tale of the Pacific Northwest, rich with myth and character.Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781642280944
Page Count: 404
Publisher: Izzard Ink
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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