Written in sumptuous prose, Kim’s novel is a feast for the senses.
Riveting novel of a prima ballerina’s tumultuous rise, fall, and potential return.
Kim’s bold second novel propels the reader into the competitive world of contemporary Russian ballet. The book begins with a crisis: Former prima ballerina Natalia Leonova is a mess. Addicted to pain meds and sleeping pills—which she’s washing down with vodka—Natalia has returned home to St. Petersburg to attempt a comeback. A disastrous accident has prematurely ended her star turn at the Paris Opéra, but even worse than the injuries to her feet are her psychic wounds and loss of confidence. As Natalia struggles during rehearsals, she reminisces about her past as a protégé of the famed Mariinsky Ballet school and company. The reader is plunged into the rivalries between dancers, lovers, friends, and even nations as Natalia rises through the ranks. Although born into poverty and raised by a single mother, Natalia has an extraordinary gift: She can jump higher than any other ballerina. Reflecting on her audition, Natalia recalls, “It was the force of all I’d been suppressing; I felt like I could reach my hands and tap the ceiling if I wished. The board members were now pointing in my direction. Murmurs and gasps. That’s a jumper. I sprang even higher.” Kim weaves in plot threads involving the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the tabloid press, and celebrity parties, as well as complications related to various expressions of sexual desire to show that no form of art can exist separately from the complexity of life. At times Natalia seems extremely naïve about the ways of the world outside ballet; refreshingly, the novel never punishes her for her excellence or her ambition. This is another brilliant page-turner from Kim, whose first novel, Beasts of a Little Land (2021), was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.
Written in sumptuous prose, Kim’s novel is a feast for the senses.Pub Date: Nov. 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780063394759
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Ecco/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
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
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
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