An uplifting and grown-up novel in which two lost souls find love and purpose.
Human drama unfolds on a New England island in Woodworth’s novel.
In this story, two damaged people seek redemption: Harry Richardson, who is experiencing prolonged grief following the death of his wife, and Mari McGavin, who has recently escaped from a controlling religious cult. The setting (and third central character) is Little Great Island itself, which sits off the coast of Maine. This isolated place is not idealized as a rural Eden—it has pressing problems that are both ecological and social—but it is a special place with a soul, and it nourishes both of these characters (“This island is the only place that fills that hole in me”). Mari has returned to live with her parents, traumatized after being swept up by a religious community when her original plan had been to pursue a career in sustainable agriculture. Harry is preparing his family’s house for sale and is talked into a deal with a developer who plans to build a slick corporate retreat. The land must be rezoned for the deal to go through, and a complicated struggle ensues, with Mari passionately helming a competing plan for the island to become more environmentally friendly and self-sufficient. This is not primarily a story about how to save an island from the modern world, though—it’s about complex human emotions and motivations. The narrative tenderly unpacks how people process the unexpected things that happen to them, allowing the characters’ transformations to unfold organically. It is also a complex love story—not necessarily romantic, but moving nonetheless. The plot is sometimes telegraphed a little too clearly, the villains are a bit one-dimensional, and a few pivotal episodes are overly dramatic. But the prose evokes an intense sense of place, conjuring a feeling that is both elegiac and hopeful; the point of view shifts effortlessly from the two main protagonists to a host of supporting characters (including Mari’s father, her childhood best friend, her ex-boyfriend, Harry’s mentor, and the island itself) to evoke the rhythms of island life.
An uplifting and grown-up novel in which two lost souls find love and purpose.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781960573902
Page Count: 356
Publisher: Sibylline Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2024
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
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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