Masterful portraits of women’s lives, only half lived.
Three generations of women are tied by blood, marriage, and a slow-burn disappointment in life.
A kind of existential crisis simmers in each of these 12 chapters—which could be read individually as short stories—traversing nearly a century of American life. The book begins in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1971 with Helene Simonauer and Evelyn Turner, uncomfortable in-laws-to-be, at the marriage of their children Tom and Ruth. Their silent ride to the flower shop for the wedding bouquet sets the tone for decades of a relationship based on competition and mutual disapproval. Flashes of their girlhoods, affluent and tragic for Helene, hardscrabble and transgressive for Evelyn, offer a backstory to their middle-aged unhappiness: “They are widows who lie in bed terrified that they are lost in their noisy days and their noisy, pointless lives and that they are missing everything that matters.” Ruth and Tom’s only child, Francie, brings some flashes of joy, but Francie is troubled by anxiety, which progresses to drug addiction. Much of the sadness of the novel comes from the characters’ inability to access their own selves—Helene and Evelyn seem trapped in performing a womanhood they have no interest in, and then the pain of such strangled identities is passed on through the generations in the form of perpetual criticism to the querulous and underachieving Ruth and painfully self-conscious Francie. There are some arresting vignettes: Evelyn develops a friendship with a neighbor’s child, who steals small, inconsequential things from her apartment; Helene attends a self-help class but is so discomfited at sharing in the circle that she invents a more interesting self to present. The novel ends with Francie approaching middle age, and finally happy—a triumph for all of the women before her.
Masterful portraits of women’s lives, only half lived.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781668078969
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
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
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
