A satisfying read about finding fulfillment in career and love.
In Garrett’s novel, a Black woman in her 40s comes into her own both personally and professionally.
Forty-four-year-old Elle Rollins is facing crossroads, both in her personal and work life. Her successful career in sales at Eaton Global Technology Group is being threatened by the questionable actions of her new boss, Nasim Ranjan. Darien, her lover, has been increasingly remote since his wife returned to Chicago, causing Elle to feel like his mistress for the first time in their intense 10-year relationship. Facing these predicaments, Elle reassesses her goals and needs. Her best friend Berns and longtime pal and colleague Jade are supportive as she sorts through the arcs of her relationship with Darien, her previous relationship with her ex-husband and co-parent Olivier, and a nascent connection with Kinte, a young fitness entrepreneur who is “bold enough to navigate his own path; taking what he needed from working for the man and using it to free himself.” Jade sounds a warning about the depth of Ranjan’s treachery, leading Elle to confront all of the unwarranted slights she’s received throughout her career at EGT and question her long-term professional aspirations. Reaching out to her mentor Liam, a retired EGT executive, and Kelly, a PR whiz, Elle charts a course to get to what is rightfully hers. (“She’d stand her ground, unwavering, and speak her piece — loudly, if need be.”) Debut author Garrett shows a depth of knowledge regarding all aspects of Elle’s life; details of her sales expertise are spot-on, displaying a thorough understanding of everything from the nuts-and-bolts of the accounts and products to strategies for making the negotiation room as physically advantageous as possible. Readers familiar with Chicago and Evanston will recognize dining spots like Hecky’s and Everest, and resonate with descriptions of perfect midwestern days: “The sun was riding high in the western sky, the breeze blew just right and the city was dynamic and alive.” The dialogue is snappy and rings true, whether between good friends over brunch, couples breaking up, or exes who have forged a companionable parenting relationship.
A satisfying read about finding fulfillment in career and love.Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9798822949355
Page Count: 266
Publisher: Palmetto Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 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
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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