A bright, entertaining tale with a lovable protagonist.
A loyal, hard-working, and surprisingly contemplative dog describes his life on a Tennessee farm in this endearing novel.
Arthur Dogson Todd proudly protects Misty Meadows Farm, and the 10-year-old dachshund and Jack Russell mix takes his “forever profession” very seriously. He lives with his “sapiens,” O’mamma and Mr. Cliff, and myriad animals, including horses, chickens, cats, and Arthur’s assistant, Pristine, a rat terrier who doesn’t actually catch any rats. Arthur has a solid system in place, with several guarding stations around the farm for “maximum range of surveillance coverage.” He consistently hones his craft, like launching the Prior Protection Program, in which he takes action at the mere whisper of danger. It’s a challenging gig; his humans don’t always understand him, suspecting the innocent canine of stealing eggs (or so their facial expressions seem to say) or wrongly referring to his keen observations (and accompanying behavior) as “complaints.” Arthur runs into all sorts of trouble on the farm—a rooster attacks him with its spurs, and O’mamma and Mr. Cliff are so distracted by some kind of “abbey” (and its interminable episodes) that they all but ignore Arthur and Pristine. The canine isn’t only about perfecting his skillset; he also tries to better himself as a dog. Nearly every experience on the farm comes with a lesson to apply to daily life. For example, he must fight to control anger and jealousy since those emotions can bring out his “dark side.”
DeVito, whose previous work was Two Spirits Here (2011), structures the novel as a series of essays narrated by Arthur. The dog charmingly defines aspects of his job, like his various barks (e.g., Intruder-Alert Bark) and his guarding station’s Comfort Level Rating System (the least comfortable being the much-dreaded post on the gravel driveway). In some of his entries, he primarily observes or reports, like witnessing the unexpected outcome of Pristine lying on the sapiens’ pillow, a forbidden spot. Arthur has his own delightful way of describing things. He employs abundant acronyms in his work and downtime—DMC (Direct Mouth Capture) and the DFHL (Dying From Hunger Look). Although Arthur shrewdly comprehends most of what his sapiens say to him and to one another, he sometimes misunderstands and memorably so: Mr. Cliff calls himself a “leg man,” prompting Arthur to assiduously search for meaning in the many legs he sees. Arthur’s combination of smarts and naïveté makes him an easy dog to love, especially since he continually strives to improve and embraces everyone in the farm family, even the shifty cats. The supporting cast, most notably O’mamma and Mr. Cliff, help round out Arthur’s world. Vagreti’s black-and-white drawings, which precede each chapter, deliver sharply defined images of, for example, tired dogs luxuriating in a human bed and the classic canine smile.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781628802818
Page Count: 224
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 6, 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
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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