A sometimes-touching, sometimes-humorous look at the human condition.
Michel-Cassidy charts life’s changes in this collection of short stories.
The 11 stories in this collection share a common trajectory—they all center around engaging moments, swinging between humorous and dramatic, that shift the characters’ lives. In “As Happy As I Could Remember,” an unnamed narrator is ditched by her cousin during a road trip and befriends an eccentric group who adopt her into their off-grid lifestyle. As she struggles to figure out her future, another member of the party searches for her missing brother. The arguably funniest entry, “Lesson Plan,” acts as a parody of Donald Barthelme’s “The School”; instead of classroom animals with short lifespans, teacher Eliza deals with pets that just won’t die. The problem is, the principal wants her to give her kindergarteners the “death talk,” and she has no dead rodent to help. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the two strongest stories are more sentimental: “Like Salmon on Their Way Home” is a beautiful and moving tale about siblings Luanne and her younger brother Fred connecting after their father dies; “Soon It Will Be Summer,” which acts as the book’s conclusion, takes place in a small ski town and focuses on Ezra, a genius student and lift-operator who was raised by his older sister in a run-down trailer. (“I measured my childhood by the difference in color between what was under the poster and the rest of the wall.”) His situation is complicated when his sister becomes pregnant, thwarting his plans of going to college and making something of himself. The prose shines throughout, but some of the stories can feel flat in comparison to others. Even so, the collection is full of heart, and every character feels vibrantly alive and relatable.
A sometimes-touching, sometimes-humorous look at the human condition.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2025
ISBN: 9781958094501
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Eastover Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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