A timely, uplifting read about finding joy in the midst of tragedy, filled with quirky characters and comforting warmth.
A spirited librarian attempts to save her school from a dour new principal, opening herself up to love in the process.
Samantha Casey adores being a librarian at the artsy, progressive Kempner School, which is run by her mentor and substitute father, Max Kempner. Together with his wife, Babette, he’s created an educational environment full of love, creativity, and warmth. But when Max dies suddenly, a new principal is appointed, and to Samantha's horror, she realizes she knows him—he's Duncan Carpenter, who taught at her last school. He was a charming, fun-loving goofball, and she had such an unrequited crush on him that she had to move away to start a new life. She’s no longer the mousy girl she was then—now she wears bright colors and flowered hats and has no problem standing out. But Duncan isn’t what he used to be, either. Instead of wearing Hawaiian shirts, he wears gray suits. He redecorates his new office in gray. He wants to paint the school’s walls (that’s right) gray. But most important, he wants to completely revamp the school’s quirky, loving atmosphere and turn it into a secure, high-tech fortress that’s focused on keeping students safe. As Samantha and Duncan spend more time together, she starts to see bits of the Duncan she used to know. But why is he hiding, and what can she do to bring the old Duncan back…and save her beloved school? Making things even more complicated is Samantha’s epilepsy, which gives her seizures and makes her feel like she’s too much work for any potential relationship partner. Center uses familiar rom-com tropes but never in a way that feels forced or clichéd. Instead, she fills even the lightest moments with a real, human sadness. Even when dealing with traumatic events, Center manages to evoke a sense of comfort that is a pure pleasure. The story’s message, that people should choose joy even (and especially) in difficult and painful times, seems tailor-made for this moment.
A timely, uplifting read about finding joy in the midst of tragedy, filled with quirky characters and comforting warmth.Pub Date: July 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21936-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2020
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
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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