A thorough but slow and entangled historical novel.
A historical novel set in the late-18th century dramatizes the plight of the Vlachs, an ancient but beleaguered people in the Balkan Mountains.
In 1770, Ali is a young, politically naïve man, bewildered by the labyrinthine political tumults of the day, “that stormy sea of clashing Empires.” He has only one aspiration: In the wake of his father’s death, he wants to restore his Tzepeleni clan to its former glory in Epirus, which would also rebuild his family’s wealth. His cunning mother, Khamko, not only ensures that he becomes the clan’s next commander, but that he becomes accustomed to the corridors of power. He learns Turkish and Greek, and he joins the sultan’s army, hoping to take advantage of the Ottoman Empire’s emphasis on merit rather than class. He rises to positions of considerable influence but falls in love with Shana, a member of the Gramostea clan, promised already in marriage to two others for political reasons. Also, the sultan orders Ali to make war against the Vlachs, including Shana’s clan, an order supported by the Christian Orthodox Church in Constantinople.
Roznoveanu hails from a long line of Vlachs, a forgotten people she vividly portrays. Consider this synoptic reference given to Omar, the Grand Vizier of the sultan: “He explained that the Vlachs’ secret realm south of the Danube had been a totally different reality built by completely unlike people, a sort of Empire on the mountaintops, having no ruler but bold, rich, and independent citizens. Their cities—linked together by almost the same language, geography, and ancestral customs—were built higher and higher all over Rumelia by those who took refuge from the third century on, when invaders started to come.” Ali, who is quietly half Vlach, is a fascinating figure—handsome and brimming with charm; he’s also capable of extraordinary brutality. Furthermore, he’s inclined to a philosophical worldview and wonders deeply about his lot in life. “Could love travel through time in families? Are we the same or different from those before us? Is our fate decided by their choices? Do we have to fulfill their unfinished tasks?” Roznoveanu’s knowledge of the Vlachs—including the culture and geography of the region and its complex political and theological divisions—is impressive. The plot is punishingly convoluted, however. A legion of characters peopling just as many subplots proves bewildering. The author seems eager to ensure not a single detail, no matter how granular or germane, is excised, leaving the reader buried under minutiae. The book concludes with a series of genealogical tables and maps, reference tools that are essential to understanding the story. The result of this narrative approach, which seems better suited to a historical rather than a novelistic account, is that the storyline dawdles. Roznoveanu’s writing style doesn’t help—long sentences densely packed with information, some of it essential and some entirely peripheral, often clumsily conveyed, are typical. At one juncture, pages and pages of debate regarding the differences and similarities of Islam and Christianity appear, a digression the reader could do without.
A thorough but slow and entangled historical novel.Pub Date: June 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-66416-806-0
Page Count: 442
Publisher: Xlibris US
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2021
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
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
© 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.
