An uneven novel that’s strongest when it simply sits with a child’s grief.
A story of grief and faith within a Nigerian Canadian family.
Newly divorced Joy Okafor Bianchi is a life coach hanging by a thread as she struggles to ensure that every last detail of her mother’s 70th birthday goes according to plan. Her dreams of a perfect celebration are dashed when her 13-year-old niece discovers Mama Mary has died in her sleep, on Good Friday no less. Further complicating matters, Mary’s sister, Nancy, is convinced her sibling will rise again on Easter Sunday owing to a premonition involving a brown cow. Immediately, Mary’s passing turns into an absurdist spectacle as news reporters and community members flock to the house to witness this miracle. Unsurprisingly, disaster, insensitivity, and long-buried family secrets soon follow. YA novelist Onomé’s adult debut features a sprawling cast of characters that ultimately prove too unwieldy to manage effectively. Perspectives rapidly rotate, and one-off characters with no clear narrative significance nevertheless take up precious space. While the author creates compelling young people who struggle with grief appropriately for their age, the adults tend to be unlikable at best, immature at worst. At one point, out of nowhere, a character remarks, “Isn’t it weird how our kids are pretty much the same age, except you got pregnant out of wedlock?” with all the subtlety of a middle school mean girl. Joy’s mild demeanor feels less like relatable meekness than pathological spinelessness. However, Onomé’s rich portrayal of Nigerian culture, foods, and traditions provides much-needed grounding, and her skillful handling of the difficulties first-generation children face as they straddle two or more cultures remains ever relevant.
An uneven novel that’s strongest when it simply sits with a child’s grief.Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781668012819
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.
With only a month left until the world ends due to a swiftly approaching black hole, Don and Rodney, a retired gay couple, road-trip from Maine to Washington to spend their final days with their son.
After reports that a planet-swallowing black hole is making its way toward Earth, Rodney and Don—who have been together for 40 years and survived everything from homophobia to the HIV crisis—decide to pack their belongings into an RV, say goodbye to their neighbors, and travel from Camden, Maine, to Washington to uphold a promise to spend their final days with their son. They can’t wait any longer, since there’s already chaos around the country: “Military vehicles in the streets of most cities and towns. Looting, rioting, the burning of cars and buildings and people, all of it had already happened.” As they make their way west across the country, they encounter fellow travelers ranging from close-knit families to free-spirited hippies, some of whom have come to terms with the impending end of the world and others who haven’t. While the story seems to be asking readers what they would do if they had 30 days left to live, and reflects on what different kinds of acceptance might look like in the face of unavoidable tragedy, it loses some of its poignancy in a series of thinly padded monologues about the meaning of life. Clearly intended to pack an emotional punch, it’s failed by an abrupt ending, and the way the journey’s mystery—which will be obvious to many readers—is revealed by an info dump in the last chapter.
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781250881236
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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