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
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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