A sensitively conceived, well-written book that will dazzle lovers of historical family intrigue.
A boy's summer on an Illinois farm gives him memories to last a lifetime in Blois’ historical novel.
It’s 1917, and Will Parlor, from Pittsburgh, is sent with his parents’ blessing to spend a summer working on the Helgevelds’ large and prosperous farm in central Illinois. The Helgevelds are salt of the earth; they hire a bunch of boys every summer to earn money and hopefully learn the virtues of hard work. Others are two Black boys, Isaiah and Moses Butler from Alabama, and Roy March, the requisite rotten apple. Roy is lazy, sneaky, and hate-filled. The Butler boys are a real boon because their granddad had taught them how to fix practically anything. Alwin, the oldest Helgeveld son, is essentially the foreman, no nonsense but fair; Vlinder is his beautiful and wise younger sister, and eventually she and Will fall in love. There is happiness and also tragedy along the way. At summer’s end, Will vows to Vlinder to come back next year. But then life, as they say, happens—like the Spanish flu and the death of Will’s brother and father, so Will has to be the man in the family and take over the family’s feed and supply stores. The years roll by and successes and failures come and go. But always in Will’s heart there are “bits of emptiness that…resurface unannounced.” Then one day in 1949, on a busy street in Chicago, Will sees a young woman—someone who conjures up old memories—from across the street who will change his life forever. This is a compulsively readable feel-good novel and an impressively written debut (and Blois hints at more to come). Is there too much wish fulfillment here? Maybe. Will Vlinder and Will live happily ever after? Whatever the case, the reader will be riveted throughout.
A sensitively conceived, well-written book that will dazzle lovers of historical family intrigue.Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9798999265302
Page Count: 310
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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