A compelling tale that gets lost in a larger, less exciting narrative.
Woodall’s historical novel tells the tragic love story behind a lace wedding dress that was left at a Belgian shop.
In 2010, recent college graduateJuliette DuBois visits her elderly aunt, Isabella Sadler, who’s the owner of the family’s renowned lace business. Facing the end of her career, Isabella tells Juliette the tale of an all-lace wedding dress that had been in her shop for almost a century. In 1910, Delphina Wadsworth, the intelligent and ambitious 18-year-olddaughter of a gentleman farmer, meets University of Oxford law student Edward Jones, the son of her father’s friend. Delphina plans to study at Oxford, as well, and she and Edward begin courting. After they become engaged, her mother insists on commissioning a lace wedding dress from the finest shop in Belgium. When World War I breaks out, Edward leaves to fight, but Delphina has the Belgian lacemakers continue their work, as she wants to make sure that they remain employed. Delphina and Edward correspond for years until the aftermath of the Battle of the Somme, when she believes that he’s been killed in action. Meanwhile, the family of a wounded soldier discovers that a man recovering in a hospital is not their son, and he can’t remember who he is. After lacemaker Marie Sadler delves into the mystery, she’s eventually faced with a choice that could profoundly alter two families forever. Marie’s role in solving the puzzle is the most gripping part of this novel. However, it takes readers a while to get to this part of the narrative; Delphina and Edward’s courtship, and Edward’s letters about the war, are far less compelling, and they border on cliché at times. The prose can also be dry and hackneyed: “In that moment, Edward knew he’d never be the same again.” Still, although World War I has inspired countless works of fiction, the lacemaker story offers readers an unusual angle on the conflict. One wishes that the novel increased Marie’s role, as it might have made the story tighter and more memorable.
A compelling tale that gets lost in a larger, less exciting narrative.Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9798871874899
Page Count: 340
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 15, 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
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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