Sublimely complex characters drive this story that promotes empathy for all earthly creatures.
A college student’s mysterious origins may have ties to her dreams of talking animals in Walters’ novel.
Frances “Frankie” Connor’s professor challenges her on the first day of her neuroscience doctoral program: He vehemently disagrees when she claims one particular lab rat is, quite simply, ticklish. Frankie is convinced that animals understand humans beyond reading their tone of voice or body language. It’s a theory she’d like to prove, especially now that she’s dreaming of forest creatures, like a gray wolf and a squirrel, who regularly converse with her. These interactions feel real—one animal recites a poem Frankie has never heard before. They also apparently know, but won’t say, where she’s from; Frankie, who was adopted, knows only nominal details about her birth parents. So, in between lab experiments on animals’ communication with humans, Frankie delves into her murky past with a bit of help from both a fellow student and the professor’s research assistant. With any luck, she’ll uncover enough to remember who she really is. Walters’ mesmerizing, multilayered protagonist truly elevates this tale. She’s not without flaws, including bouts of selfishness, and her relationships are thorny, particularly with her adoptive parents and younger brother. Frankie also suffers from depression, the chief reason she’s interested in the field of neuroscience (“I realized I could use neuroscience to do some good. You know, study the brain to find out how to help other people not go through what I did”). The main mystery is inside her head—readers only know what Frankie knows, and it’s unclear whether or not she’s genuinely speaking with the animals. Her hazy genesis further complicates the plot. Welcome lighthearted touches include such lovable animal characters as Shelly, a turtle who’s always seemingly out of breath. While the message of extending kindness toward all nonhuman animals is somewhat heavy-handed, the novel’s multi-dimensional, multi-species cast gives it much-needed impact.
Sublimely complex characters drive this story that promotes empathy for all earthly creatures.Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781684632428
Page Count: 256
Publisher: SparkPress
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2023
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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