This engrossing tale about a survivor of childhood abuse deftly depicts the healing process.
In this novel, an established romance author decides to face her past and present by writing a memoir.
In her 60s and divorced, Claire Leccese is finally coming to terms with the trauma of enduring several years of her father’s abuse and the resulting emotional effects on her personal and romantic relationships. With the support of her best friend, Guy Gaetano, and his husband, Thad, Claire starts her healing journey and moves back to Southampton, New York. Once there, she rekindles her relationship with Sydney Howard, a thriving artist who provides a safe space for her granddaughter to come out. Claire starts to write her memoir and deal with all the secrets she’s kept hidden for so long. Coccioli uses Claire and Sydney’s relationship to introduce several open wounds that haunt the protagonist’s romantic affairs. An early interaction, where readers see that Claire is afraid of being naked in front of Sydney, shows her body-image issues as well as insinuating that she won’t let him near her. Their subsequent argument exposes Claire’s “safe basics” and scars from her past relationships where “men and women had taken confidential information and used pieces of it to set off my emotional triggers and get their way.” The author’s careful interweaving of flashbacks and present-day exchanges helps readers understand Claire’s complex healing odyssey. Claire is very open about her initial lack of maternal instincts with her own children and how her granddaughter has helped her address the situation. Claire also becomes self-aware when she realizes that people around her have insecurities that they need to tackle. As the absorbing story reveals Claire’s layers of pain, Coccioli skillfully captures the protagonist’s nuanced reactions to her memories. The dissociative episodes and triggers (for example, when Sydney calls Claire baby during a sexual encounter) paint a realistic trauma response. That said, the author does not shy away from graphic depictions of Claire’s repeated abuse, which makes the book a difficult read at times.
This engrossing tale about a survivor of childhood abuse deftly depicts the healing process. (explicit, sexual assault, incest, pedophilia)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 979-8-45-684572-6
Page Count: 342
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Sept. 10, 2021
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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