A charming and complex book full of intellect, humor, and—despite its title—romance.
An anti-romantic finds herself at odds with her own beliefs when she falls in love with not one, but two men.
Meyer’s provocative novel follows Sylvie Broder from her childhood in a New England town where “families agonized aloud about college but never tuition” into adulthood. Growing up at odds with her quiet and rule-obsessed parents, Sylvie was only allowed to be her loud, emotional, and messy self while visiting her joyful grandparents, who were Holocaust survivors. Then, in high school, she falls in love with “famously perfect” Jonah Sabransky. Over the course of an 11-year relationship that includes marriage, Sylvie submits herself to his increasingly cruel wants, needs, and desires—and becomes smaller and meeker with every passing year. When she finally leaves, she does so without a word. As she attempts to rebuild her life, Sylvie starts a philosophy Ph.D. program, seeks out one-night stands, and avoids Jonah’s endless emails. In both her life and her dissertation work, Sylvie dreams “of the world after romance,” because public-facing relationships kept “women from flourishing and corroded true love.” Her marriage not only completely leveled her life and relationships, but her belief in the concept of romance. These rigid beliefs are beautifully challenged when she meets two distinctly different men: sweet and understanding Robbie, who lets Sylvie be exactly who she is, and boisterous and family-centric Abie, who opens Sylvie up in ways she never knew possible. As she falls in love, she lets go of what she knows and begins to understand how she feels. Meyer has rendered Sylvie with such complexity that she’s able to garner empathy from the reader despite her selfishness and shortcomings. Steeped in current events and philosophical theory, the book also deftly explores abuse, monogamy, the #MeToo movement, Judaism, love, and power dynamics in and out of the bedroom. A less capable writer would stumble under the weight of the book’s intricate themes, but Meyer’s prose is both graceful and skillful.
A charming and complex book full of intellect, humor, and—despite its title—romance.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780593835142
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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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