An in-depth, engaging look at the making of a physician.
A debut literary novel focuses on a young doctor in Texas.
At the outset of Albedo’s story, the year is 1932. Neva Pettibone, who has endured six stillborn births, is in labor again. The attending doctor is not really a licensed physician at all. Zebulon “Doc” Callaway is a pharmacist who practices medicine illegally. Nevertheless, Doc’s patients are glad to have him. When Neva gives birth, the infant is alive, albeit with a number of health problems. The baby will be named Ivy. She will spend her adult life as a ward of the state. Fast-forward several years, and Doc’s grandson Chase Callaway is in medical school. Chase is a bright young man with a photographic memory. He works part time at Matherville State Mental Hospital, where Ivy happens to live. Readers follow along as Chase experiences highs and lows in his pursuit of becoming a doctor. Whether Chase is dealing with the suicide of a classmate, the death of a patient, an ornery instructor, or simply the fact that he has been awake for one too many hours, he seems determined to come out on top. All the while, he manages to strike up a friendship of sorts with Ivy. Chase’s quest to become a physician proves a spectacularly detailed affair. This is particularly true with regard to medical concepts. Readers will learn about a bilateral syndactyly, a triple valve replacement, and the stresses of a medical residency program. And when Chase has his doubts about both the attitudes of the medical establishment and his own place in it, an insightful portrait is created. But other details can distract readers from the main journey. Many characters, such as Chase’s fellow medical student Porter Piscotel, are provided extensive backstories that do not add much to the main narrative. Do readers need to know about Porter’s time in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets to understand his cocky, no-nonsense attitude? The story is more engrossing when it concentrates on the many mountains Chase needs to climb.
An in-depth, engaging look at the making of a physician.Pub Date: May 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-944715-83-0
Page Count: 350
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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 dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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