An inspired, if uneven, dissection of the nebulousness of life after the upheaval of war.
A debut collection of short stories examines characters who become unmoored by personal and historical circumstances.
Hiltner’s tales explore a cast of characters who are dispossessed in a variety of ways. The author grew up in Ohio but lived and worked for many years abroad, mainly in Germany and Hungary, and these locations come up often in his works. Many are set during the World War II era and afterward, following individual people and families divided by conflict; there are also detours to the American Midwest and, in one story, Africa. The works often employ detached first-person narrators who observe and report more than they actively participate in the stories’ events. Although geopolitics is a thematic element of many of these tales, they are not generally action-oriented, nor are they centered on specific battles or historical figures; rather, they follow everyday people who often recount personal tragedies as they try to pick up the pieces of their lives. In these stories, sons leave their parents (“The Missing Sheep of Coshocton County”) and husbands leave their wives (“Remember Me”); one tells of running a factory in a stable postwar economy (“The Open Window”) and another of a visit to the beach (“Crescent Beach”). At least three stories include a suicide, and very few of them convey any kind of optimism for the postwar future—or joy for the characters who are living through it. There are some outliers, though, such as “The Double Standard Bra,” which, in fewer than two pages, ponders double standards of sexuality.
The author’s clear research and sense of place supply the European stories with a sense of confidence and authenticity, and the thinly described narrators give many of them an eerie, cautionary quality. There are 22 stories here, and many are on the shorter side and use dialogue sparingly; as a result, some feel as though they might have benefited by more clearly expressing characters’ personalities and motives. Many seem to be on the cusp of poignancy, but abrupt ends or time skips undermine their significance. “Beneath the Balboa Tree of Guescheme” stands out as one of the most fully realized works. It follows Baptist missionaries in Africa who witness the genital mutilation of a group of young local girls, relaying their experiences in dialogue and diary entries. It does not, however, deeply examine the implications of missionaries visiting African countries, and it seems to exoticize Muslim African communities. Overall, Hiltner’s prose is utilitarian, and the strongest lines come from narrators’ internalization of their bleak circumstances and observations on how time shapes our perceptions of suffering: “Perhaps the passing of a generation would settle long ago questions….The important thing was so simple, like the sitting in an orchard, and the taste of a pilsner. Perhaps there was no freedom and there was no tether. Perhaps the one who is tied is free, and the one who is free is tethered.” An inspired, if uneven, dissection of the nebulousness of life after the upheaval of war.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2022
ISBN: 9798985215410
Page Count: 166
Publisher: Kniemst Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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