Stories that explore what it means to buck the status quo amid suspicion of—or hostility toward—anything different.
Queer and mixed-race people challenge boundaries and defy expectations by virtue of their very existence in a story collection infused with the sticky, swampy heat of Florida.
In many ways, this debut collection functions as an exploration of radical subversiveness—of race and ethnicity, of gender and sexuality, of models of family and community, even of species. Lines blur, categories coalesce, and hybridity reigns supreme. A member of the West Philly punk scene begins to develop reptilian physical features. Queer Jacksonville residents form a close-knit social circle that endures through incestuous romantic entanglements. Besides the recurring appearance of the Jacksonville friends, the most prominent commonality among the stories is the fact that multiple protagonists share a background as the children of Chinese mothers and white fathers. In practice, this means they are constantly on the receiving end of attempts to dissect their racial identity, familiar with the alienating experience of being constantly othered. A bookish teenager vacationing at a Polynesian-themed resort is repeatedly asked if she is a “native” by other tourists before a tragedy befalls her family. A university employee living in an Orwellian society navigates a state-run dating site that exclusively pairs people of color with white people. A young woman taught how to pickle memories disposes of “the white woman at the grocery store who told me I was prettier because I wasn’t ‘full Chinese’” in this manner. Haunting in its treatment of family legacy and cultural inheritance, that story, “One-Thousand-Year-Old Ghosts,” is one of the strongest here. Not all the stories measure up to the standard it sets, with some being much thinner and less polished. Nevertheless, the collection highlights the everyday burden of shouldering bias and misconception, but never at the expense of the individuality and humanity of its characters.
Stories that explore what it means to buck the status quo amid suspicion of—or hostility toward—anything different.Pub Date: March 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780810146945
Page Count: 184
Publisher: TriQuarterly/Northwestern Univ.
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
