A pleasantly nostalgic book of Christmas stories and reminiscences.
Broxson edits a collection of Yuletide tales to put readers in the mood for the holiday season.
In Lee Allen Hill’s “Jesús and Donkey,” a boy tries to buy a turkey for his mother for their first Christmas since his father’s death; then, he and his dog encounter a mountain lion. In “The Magic of Santa’s Christmas Box” by Diane Kenel-Truelove, a girl who steadfastly believes in Santa Claus discovers a mysterious box waiting for her—and just for her—on the family porch. And in Ann Mullen-Martin’s “A Christmas Gift,” a widowed former foster parent gets an unexpected request. In the Old West, mountain man Kit learns a new spin on the Christmas tree tradition from his Arapahoe wife—or so the narrator of Terry Broxson’s “The Christmas Tree,” a talking, eggnog-drinking cat named Holly, would have her audience believe. In this anthology of short stories and personal essays, readers are treated to accounts of kindness between relatives, friends, and strangers that bring a bit of light to what is, for some, the darkest time of the year. Several pieces describe Christmas scenes from decades past—one nonfiction piece by Jay Squires (“Bring Back the Carolers”) ends in an appeal for Americans to carol more, as they did during the writer’s childhood: But each effectively strikes upon timeless holiday values of togetherness, generosity, goodwill, and cheer. Broxson contributes two humorous entries, but the anthology is dominated by the work of Hill, Kenel-Truelove, and Martin-Mullen, who provide three tales apiece. Whether recounting fact or fiction, the stories are of the sentimental variety, with little, if any, conflict. They’re generally more concerned with capturing the elusive feelings that people have around Christmas: “My heart filled with the magic of their voices, all mixed in my memory with rising steam from a held note vanishing an instant later,” writes Squires. “Little things like that carried so many meanings—meanings I’m struggling to pin down so they don’t slither away.” This is a collection of such little things, and it’s perfect for fireside reading on a snowy night.
A pleasantly nostalgic book of Christmas stories and reminiscences.Pub Date: July 31, 2024
ISBN: 9798891324190
Page Count: 110
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 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
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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