An enjoyable career tale with an underdeveloped protagonist.
In this dark comedy, a disgraced journalist–turned–funeral planner gets more than she bargained for.
Aislin Fitzgerald never thought she’d be moving back to her hometown at age 30. Since leaving for college, she’s barely even visited the tiny Canadian burg, preferring her life as a successful, big-city reporter in Vancouver. But when Aislin takes things a step too far and publicly exposes her roommate’s abusive relationship, she finds every personal and professional bridge burned—and a return to her childhood bedroom in a house with her pet turtle, Secretariat, and her cantankerous grandmother Letty the only viable alternative. Letty raised Aislin after her parents died. Now 74 years old and widowed, Letty finds that her main hobby is attending the various funerals of friends and foes alike, a habit Aislin isn’t sure what to make of. When Aislin reconnects with Sarah, her former best friend and an ex–wedding organizer who’s now a single mother, the two decide to start their own business: planning funerals. With their combined skill set, along with the catering services of local cafe owner Jill Bentley and the town’s high number of older folks, Aislin and Sarah figure it’s a win-win. (“I see franchise potential,” Sarah asserts.) But their first client is the charming10-Gauge, a member of a biker gang called the Timber Dogs, who’s looking to celebrate the checkered life of fellow member Twiggy, whose death likely wasn’t an accident. Can Aislin manage a potentially dangerous situation in the name of a brand-new career? Domvile’s plot and characters are engaging and unique—most literary heroes don’t have pet turtles and plan funerals for motorcyclists. Letty is a funny but nuanced supporting player with an arc that defies the sassy older woman stereotype. And Letty’s love interest, Otto Lawless, provides comic relief as a former funeral home owner looking for a healthy dose of adventure in his second act. Unfortunately, Aislin doesn’t appear to learn or grow as the story progresses. While her stubbornness can be appealing, her tendencies not to listen to her loved ones and respect their wishes persist throughout the book even as Aislin begins to succeed.
An enjoyable career tale with an underdeveloped protagonist.Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-77835-106-8
Page Count: 218
Publisher: House of Miles Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2022
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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