A warm novel with a light comic touch.
A girl in a charming German town weathers loss and tries to map out her life.
Many of the delights in German author Leky’s new novel are whimsical, but even if whimsy is not your preference, it's impossible to escape her spell. And why would you want to escape such an entertaining diversion, anyway? The book takes place in a charming Western German village full of oddballs and dreamers: A little boy who longs to be a weight lifter; a Buddhist-leaning optician who refuses to confess his true love; a woman determined to be sad; a husband who wants to roam and the wife who wants to leave him. Our guide through the Westerwald is Luisa, a 10-year-old girl whose life is upended when her grandmother Selma dreams of an okapi. Whenever the creature appears to Selma, someone in town dies within 24 hours. The villagers are understandably worried now: “They kept clear of the good-natured cows who, they believed, might go berserk that day.” How Selma’s vision plays out changes the town and Luisa forever. Yet even as death makes its mark on the town, the bubbling force of life goes on as Luisa grows up and falls in love with a monk whose vow of celibacy is in peril from their first meeting. Leky’s bemused affection for her characters is apparent on every page, and it’s infectious. This is a generous and funny novel, though Leky doesn’t shy away from the ache of separation and the painful aftermath of loss. Her townspeople accept their fates with sorrow but also good humor and determination. “You can’t always choose which adventure you’re made for,” Luisa says. But we leave Leky’s world knowing that every ordinary day holds the potential for something wonderful.
A warm novel with a light comic touch.Pub Date: June 22, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-374-28882-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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SEEN & HEARD
An affirming novel catering to all the anxious romantics out there.
A 29-year-old with a “phobia of intimacy” is determined to lose her virginity in Averick’s debut novel.
Phoebe Berman thinks there is something wrong with her. On paper, her life looks ideal: She has her dream job teaching pre-K, a supportive family, and a tightknit group of friends in Los Angeles. But as her 30th birthday approaches, Phoebe fixates on her lack of romantic experience—specifically, the fact that she’s still a virgin. Though she considers herself a lifelong romantic, intimacy has terrified Phoebe ever since a middle school incident turned a potential first kiss into a public disaster. So hyperorganized Phoebe does what she does best: She makes a list. Instead of following her therapist’s suggestion to catalog her accomplishments, she creates “Phoebe’s Guide to Losing Her Virginity in Thirty Days,” a checklist featuring tasks that range from “Redownload Hinge” to “Get drunk and make out with a stranger.” Phoebe soon finds herself torn between several romantic prospects, including Matthew, a former high school classmate with whom she shares her daily Wordle scores; Finn, the charming new fourth grade teacher at her school; and Jonathan, her longtime roommate and best friend of 12 years, with whom her parents always dreamed she’d end up. Throughout it all, Phoebe is forced to confront her fears and assumptions about love, intimacy, and herself. Averick’s writing is consistently funny and sharp, balancing comedy with emotional honesty. Phoebe is an intensely relatable main character whose kindness and vulnerability make her easy to root for. Filled with plot twists readers won’t see coming, the book is an irresistibly fun ride that also delivers a compassionate exploration of anxiety and the courage and self-acceptance needed to move through it.
An affirming novel catering to all the anxious romantics out there.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9798217088263
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
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