A corker of a heist comedy.
Four septuagenarians who were once a girl gang live out the classic Bette Davis observation: Getting old is not for sissies.
It’s been four decades since 74-year-old Frances Deluca’s New York–based girl gang broke up, following a betrayal by one of their own that almost got the other three arrested. Now the widowed Frances, who is bored, living in Houston, and keeping a secret, wants “the ultimate swan song of one last heist.” Faster than readers can say “Golden Girls,” the four geographically scattered women reunite. Readers who begin the novel skeptical that they will warm to a group of criminals can be assured that there is, and has always been, a method to the madness: As Frances tells someone at one point, “We always did it to right a wrong. Well, except for that one time in the convenience store, but mostly to right wrongs.” Sure enough, one of the women has the perfect target for the gang’s final job: a con man who scammed her granddaughter. The cause brings the foursome to Las Vegas, where the impediments of age (memory slippage, technological inexperience, physical mobility limitations, increased need for bathroom breaks) are offset by the fact that, as Frances puts it, “No one believes we are capable of anything but a bit of gardening and knitting sweaters for the family. We’re practically invisible.” London, a stalwart author of romance novels, demonstrates a fine talent for the comeuppance comedy, although her story also has meat on its bones: It’s about mending fences, the devaluation of older women, and confronting mortality. While the novel is a bit long-winded as it wends its way to Vegas, by book’s end, readers can expect to wish they had more time with the old girls.
A corker of a heist comedy.Pub Date: June 30, 2026
ISBN: 9781496757142
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: today
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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