An astute addition to a decade of discussions about consent and predation.
A middle-aged novelist revisits complicated relationships with men in her past and present.
Christensen’s late-breaking #MeToo novel revolves around a character named Julia Heimdahl, who shares many details of the author’s biography and career, as recounted in a previous memoir, Blue Plate Special (2013), and in a personal history on her website. Julia is appearing at a book festival at her alma mater in the Pacific Northwest to promote her latest, a memoir titled Don’t Let It Bring You Down: A Compendium of Complicated Relationships; excerpts from the memoir are interspersed throughout the novel. Julia is on a panel with memoirist and literary biographer Ellis Blackwell—picture real-life author Blake Bailey, whom he resembles. Over the course of the festival weekend, Blackwell attempts to bond with and even seduce Julia, hoping to get her on his side in advance of a troubling accusation he knows is about to break in the media. Julia does have some sympathy for social outlaws: While she’s now happily partnered with a musician 20 years her junior, she’s still smarting from the punitive reaction of her community in Brooklyn when she had an extramarital affair at the tail end of her crumbling marriage. The title of the novel refers to a compliment Julia had previously been proud to receive from men, but she becomes less enthralled with it as she begins to examine her own complicity in abusive relationships and the roots of her own internalized misogyny. Christensen’s adeptness at character development and psychological analysis shines as she depicts the complexities of Julia’s interactions with the frenemies and colleagues she runs into at the conference. She also candidly addresses the question posed at the panel, “What’s it like having a boyfriend who’s twenty years younger than you?” Many readers will find this topic as interesting as the riveted conference audience does—and we get more juicy details than they do.
An astute addition to a decade of discussions about consent and predation.Pub Date: June 16, 2026
ISBN: 9780063464315
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
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
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.
With only a month left until the world ends due to a swiftly approaching black hole, Don and Rodney, a retired gay couple, road-trip from Maine to Washington to spend their final days with their son.
After reports that a planet-swallowing black hole is making its way toward Earth, Rodney and Don—who have been together for 40 years and survived everything from homophobia to the HIV crisis—decide to pack their belongings into an RV, say goodbye to their neighbors, and travel from Camden, Maine, to Washington to uphold a promise to spend their final days with their son. They can’t wait any longer, since there’s already chaos around the country: “Military vehicles in the streets of most cities and towns. Looting, rioting, the burning of cars and buildings and people, all of it had already happened.” As they make their way west across the country, they encounter fellow travelers ranging from close-knit families to free-spirited hippies, some of whom have come to terms with the impending end of the world and others who haven’t. While the story seems to be asking readers what they would do if they had 30 days left to live, and reflects on what different kinds of acceptance might look like in the face of unavoidable tragedy, it loses some of its poignancy in a series of thinly padded monologues about the meaning of life. Clearly intended to pack an emotional punch, it’s failed by an abrupt ending, and the way the journey’s mystery—which will be obvious to many readers—is revealed by an info dump in the last chapter.
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781250881236
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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