An effective fictional portrait of heinous acts and their consequences.
In MacBride’s novel, a man’s crimes during and after the Second World War cast a long, dark shadow over his family.
Vowing to shed the shame of one’s past is one thing; doing so is a very different matter, as Achiel Van Slyck’s family and siblings realize in this complex story of an unhinged man driven by a simple, horrifying motto: “Take all you want. Eat all you take.” It’s a lesson that Achiel learned in World War II–era Belgium, where he was born, and where his disturbing, violent nature found its darkest flowering—first, through various black-market schemes, and ultimately, through rounding up and murdering Jewish people as a German soldier.Given license to do as he pleased, Achiel was untroubled by his choice: “I spoke fluent German, so why not?” he notes at one point. He made an easy transition to life in the United States after the war, where he shed his Nazi past as easily as a rattlesnake loses its skin. However, his adult children—Sophie, Lucas, Ruby, and Ronnie—find it hard to shake off Achiel’s later murder of man named Clifford Ellis in 1975. It’s a crime that will leave them buckling under the weight of their own moral compromises, as one character plaintively admits: “I did what Dad told me. Am I going to get into trouble now?” Bit by bit, the story unfolds in a haunting, evocative style, zigzagging with jump-cut logic from their father’s imprisonment in the ’70s to the carefree American 1960s,’40s-era Belgium, and back again. Readers may find these narrative shifts endearing or irritating, but they’re a feature, not a bug, highlighting how people recall unspeakable crimes in disjointed fashion. The weight of the tragedy gradually becomes clear via court papers, letters, and even the prayers of Achiel’s wife, Lucia, who finally confesses: “Yes, I can forgive him, but I can’t love him.” Rewards are plentiful for readers who pay sharp attention.
An effective fictional portrait of heinous acts and their consequences.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781964354033
Page Count: 332
Publisher: Salty Books Publishing Company, LLC
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
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
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
© Copyright 2026 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.
