A well-written apocalyptic tale about a global pandemic that is all too realistic.
Seven medical school friends navigate the emotional and physical devastation wrought by a global pandemic.
Written before the Covid-19 pandemic, this book navigates the implications of a global pandemic on seven midcareer doctors who first became friends in med school. Kira Marchand is an infectious disease specialist who works for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta; Candee Compton-Winfield is an emergency room doctor in New York City; Hannah Geier is an OB-GYN in San Diego, California; Georgia Brown is a urologist in San Diego; Vani Darshana is an internist in Berea, Kentucky; Zadie Anson is a pediatric cardiologist in Charlotte, North Carolina; and Emma Colley is a trauma surgeon in Charlotte. The friends are on vacation in Spain and Morocco when the pandemic first strikes, and the story follows them and the impact that the artiovirus, CARS-ArV, has on their group, the cities they live in, and their families. Kira, Candee, and Hannah are point-of-view main characters. The narrative arc of the story follows Kira, the infectious disease specialist, who finds herself in a situation in which she has to choose between the lives of her two children. Covid-19 does not exist in these pages, but it will be impossible for readers to divorce their own pandemic experiences from those they are reading about. Much time is spent discussing the virus and its effects, both initial and long-term. For some readers, the lengthy descriptions of the artiovirus and its medical effects might be too much, while others will find the details just right. The idealized societal and governmental response, however, will ring false to many.
A well-written apocalyptic tale about a global pandemic that is all too realistic.Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-984802-86-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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