Atkinson’s fans might want to wait for her next book.
A collection of short fiction in which anything can happen by the celebrated author of the Jackson Brodie novels, among many others.
Atkinson’s last book, Shrines of Gaiety (2022) has a single, charismatic figure at its center, a story that spirals outward to encompass a multifarious cast, and narratives that multiply and intertwine, the whole glorious thing energized by her impeccable ear for the English language, a willingness to experiment, and a sort of gimlet-eyed compassion. That is to say, Shrines of Gaiety reads like an Atkinson novel. This collection feels like an amateurish parody of her signature style, exacerbated by the attempt to tie it all together with recurring characters and repeating motifs. Franklin Fletcher, for example, is the main character of “Dogs in Jeopardy,” “The Indiscreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie,” “Classic Quest 17—Crime and Punishment” and co-star of the closing story, “What If?” Dame Phoebe Hope-Waters, the Rev. Matthew Dent, and a down-on-her-luck fairytale princess named Aoife pop up in multiple stories. There are talking animals. The end of the world happens. Violets—violet eau de toilette, violet candies, the flowers themselves—dot the text but, after an initial aha, this motif seems no more meaningful than an easter egg in a video game. It all feels like too much and not enough, and “Puppies and Rainbows”—the tale of a feckless, pill-popping American actress who has an affair with the young idiot who is second in line to the British throne—is an embarrassment that not even a cameo appearance by Dame Phoebe Hope-Waters can save. There are a couple of standout characters. Florence, the Rev. Dent’s spiky eldest daughter, is a delight. And then there’s Franklin—handsome, affable, rudderless Franklin. Lacking any will or desire of his own, he is putty in the hands of an author like Atkinson. It’s completely probable that he will—again and again—encounter the improbable, and one wishes that his author had found a complete novel for him. Or even a fully realized novella.
Atkinson’s fans might want to wait for her next book.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9780385549509
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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
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
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