A page-turning romance for those who adore the worlds of theater and dance.
In London, a talented dancer at a professional crossroads takes a romantic risk in Porter’s sequel to A Change of Location (2024).
Ellie Lowery is 29 years old, but she feels as if she’s already lived several lives. She’s made the decision to hang up her corset as the successful burlesque dancer Stella Nue and try acting. While waiting to meet her Aunt Camille at the Ritz’s Rivoli Bar, an overenthusiastic fan of her burlesque act tries to accost her, and handsome financier Dan Wheeler steps in, pretending to be there to meet her. Ellie is searching for a place to live in London and Dan helps her to get settled in the city. However, she’s still haunted by the death of her husband, actor Harry Colman, nine years ago, and she’s reluctant to start a new relationship. Meanwhile, Gil Cooke, Ellie’s old friend from Julliard, is desperate to have her star in a play he’s written, and Rafe Lawrence, her dance partner when she was trying to make it as a ballerina years ago, wants her to join his ballet company. In this fictional exploration of a young woman trying to find success, Porter writes in a clear and appealing manner that makes the complicated world of dance accessible and attractive. One of the most compelling aspects of the novel is how it recognizes the demands that dancing places on a professional’s body and mind; Ellie’s own personal journey leads her to a good place: “She was no longer defined by critics, whose expectations of a dancer were rigid and specific.” Some plot points seem a bit too convenient at times; Dan’s father happens to be a donor to Rafe’s ballet company, for instance. However, the complex relationships are engaging throughout, always keeping the reader hooked.
A page-turning romance for those who adore the worlds of theater and dance.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9798985673463
Page Count: 330
Publisher: Gallica Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 29, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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