A poetry collection about family origins that buries the lede.
Stawowy presents a character-driven collection of poetry.
This book of poems follows a family across several generations. The author begins with a direct address to her ancestors, declaring, “Your stories, hidden gospels, and I, the heretic who decodes them” (“Dear Ancestors”). The book begins with a section on her biological family circa 1924 and 1925. In “Fern: The Expert,” readers meet Harry, a barber married in a shotgun wedding to Bertha (Fern is their “shotgun baby”). Harry’s mistress, Faye, refuses to “throw away good years like dishwater on petunias” (“Faye: I’ll Get What I Want”). George, the husband left behind, drinks from a “brown bag of grief” (“George: Wait a Minute”).The second section of the book features her adoptive family in the years between 1925 and 1960. The speaker lives with “Fred: Counterfeit Father,” sisters Doris and Florence, and a bitter mother named Belle. Doris soon departs for Chicago, and Fred feels left behind by his offspring. The third section of the book follows the “fractured family” from 1960 to 2018. Doris leaves her husband, claiming “I gave him a precious gift. He just doesn’t know it yet” (“Doris: Leaving Him”). Doris suffers from dementia. The final two poems find the poet reconciling her mother’s erroneous family tree with DNA testing, using writing to mend the story. Stawowy excels at making metaphors and similes. She describes “murmuring snails under a milk moon” (“Dear Ancestors”)and the way aging turns a face into “a frail map, antiquated” (“Faye, Age Seventy: Ignored at the Family Party”). The poet also experiments with form: There are poems written in the form of an advice column, one in which the columnist advises a wife worried about her husband’s absence to “guide that donkey back to the barn” (“Bertha: Asking for Advice”).Throughout, the poet adopts the voices of different characters. As the cast grows, it becomes challenging to keep them all straight—or feel deeply invested in their individual narrative arcs. It is not until the epilogue that Stawowy provides the context necessary to understand the poems.
A poetry collection about family origins that buries the lede.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2023
ISBN: 9781639803279
Page Count: 57
Publisher: Kelsay Books
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.
A travel writer has one last shot at reconnecting with the best friend she just might be in love with.
Poppy and Alex couldn't be more different. She loves wearing bright colors while he prefers khakis and a T-shirt. She likes just about everything while he’s a bit more discerning. And yet, their opposites-attract friendship works because they love each other…in a totally platonic way. Probably. Even though they have their own separate lives (Poppy lives in New York City and is a travel writer with a popular Instagram account; Alex is a high school teacher in their tiny Ohio hometown), they still manage to get together each summer for one fabulous vacation. They grow closer every year, but Poppy doesn’t let herself linger on her feelings for Alex—she doesn’t want to ruin their friendship or the way she can be fully herself with him. They continue to date other people, even bringing their serious partners on their summer vacations…but then, after a falling-out, they stop speaking. When Poppy finds herself facing a serious bout of ennui, unhappy with her glamorous job and the life she’s been dreaming of forever, she thinks back to the last time she was truly happy: her last vacation with Alex. And so, though they haven’t spoken in two years, she asks him to take another vacation with her. She’s determined to bridge the gap that’s formed between them and become best friends again, but to do that, she’ll have to be honest with Alex—and herself—about her true feelings. In chapters that jump around in time, Henry shows readers the progression (and dissolution) of Poppy and Alex’s friendship. Their slow-burn love story hits on beloved romance tropes (such as there unexpectedly being only one bed on the reconciliation trip Poppy plans) while still feeling entirely fresh. Henry’s biggest strength is in the sparkling, often laugh-out-loud-funny dialogue, particularly the banter-filled conversations between Poppy and Alex. But there’s depth to the story, too—Poppy’s feeling of dissatisfaction with a life that should be making her happy as well as her unresolved feelings toward the difficult parts of her childhood make her a sympathetic and relatable character. The end result is a story that pays homage to classic romantic comedies while having a point of view all its own.
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0675-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
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