An unvarnished portrait of ugliness, bravery, and banal self-interest.
The beliefs of two young German women set them on a harrowing collision course under Nazi reign.
Hannah Kaufman, a member of a Jewish family from Munich that had initially sought refuge in Prague, remains there with her beloved grandfather as the rest of their family travels to safety in Palestine. Instead of having the family reunion they long for, Hannah and her Opa find themselves among the thousands transported to the Theresienstadt camp. Although touted by the Nazi propaganda machine as a model settlement for Jews, the camp in fact subjected its inmates to constant peril, abasement, and surveillance. At the same time Hannah struggles for survival and meaningful resistance, Hilde Kramer-Bischoff, her childhood best friend and a German national, strives to advance her faltering career within the Third Reich. She is childless, a war widow, and still searching for her place in the world after a lifetime of perceived rejection and abandonment. Her efforts at rising within the same propaganda operation that obscured the true nature of life at Theresienstadt result in an unanticipated reunion with her former friend as well as an opportunity for both women to act on behalf of the causes they believe in. Coburn’s extensively researched narrative conveys the full horror of conditions at the camp (cynically purported to be Hitler’s “gift to the Jews”) while highlighting the artistic and cultural accomplishments of the camp’s population. Hilde’s infatuation with life and advancement within the German war machine is portrayed, believably, as a case study of personal ambition and blind allegiance to a national movement. Family ties, religious belief, and the sustaining power of the arts in the face of oppression are explored in a story of human values tested under the most horrific of circumstances.
An unvarnished portrait of ugliness, bravery, and banal self-interest.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781728277318
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 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
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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