A poignant fictionalized account of the early slave trade.
Against the backdrop of the war between Africa’s Queendom of Kana and Portugal, Brown’s historical novel follows women warriors as they fight to free slaves from Jamestown in 1619.
Princess Chibuike (“Chi”) is 10 years old and preparing to serve the Queendom of Kana—the land of women warriors—which comprises 10 African villages found in the mountains of the northwest, the sandstone of the northeast, and the forest of the south. One day, exploring the local forest, she is terrified by a pale man urinating in the woods (“my heart was beating as fast as a cheetah on the trail of an antelope”). Years pass and Chi comes of age; she meets Efe and Fatimata, who are preparing to lead the Banaan and Asanti tribes, following their royal mothers. Shortly thereafter, the Banaan and Asanti people vanish, with Fatimata and her family among the missing. Chi and her warriors set out on a journey to discover that the Portuguese have captured Banaan and Asanti people and brought them to Jamestown, Virginia, where they were traded for money or goods such as sugar, rum, and molasses. After being sold, they were baptized, given Christian names, and expected to worship a male God while serving their white masters as their property. Chi and her warriors battle the Portuguese, attack a slave ship, and aim to overthrow the governor, Sir George Yeardley, who has permitted the enslavement of the native people, multiple massacres, and the British overtaking of Indigenous lands. In this tragic narrative, Brown vividly illustrates how enslaved people were robbed of their personal identities. She also explores issues of hierarchy and privilege while conveying the needs and desires of Efe, Fatimata, and Chi as they develop relationships and come of age. While the story is action-packed, historically accurate, and engaging, there are passages in which the gore becomes excessive and times when the story feels overextended, as if the author is struggling to wrap up too many details. Still, this novel serves as a fascinating yet horrifying account of a dark time in European history while centering the agency of women in dynamic roles.
A poignant fictionalized account of the early slave trade.Pub Date: June 13, 2024
ISBN: 9781735475035
Page Count: 370
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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