The compelling tale of an under-resourced physician.
In Qandil’s historical novel, a doctor operating a clinic in rural Egypt struggles with difficult cases.
In 1970s Egypt, an unnamed doctor arrives at a health clinic in a small village. The doctor has spent some time in prison for protesting the government and suffers from related PTSD; he’s come to the village to start over. The clinic is in terrible shape, having been abandoned after the previous doctor vanished months earlier. The doctor develops feelings for a nurse named Farah (“I lowered my gaze, to resist the urge to touch her”), but he feels a sense of constant danger, especially after hours—the community can be violent and close-minded. The doctor’s cases include those of a young man suffering from a scorpion sting, a wealthy woman seeking an abortion, a local ruler’s wife who wants poison to kill her abusive husband, and a school in which every child has worms. The doctor takes time off to go to Cairo, where the prison that held him has been turned into a museum. He has such a terrible time in Cairo that coming home to the village is a relief, but he’s immediately confronted with a patient near death. This is an episodic narrative with a lot of medical detail, focused primarily on the doctor’s cases and the people he encounters in the village. Some of the community’s traditions are foreign to the doctor, but he adapts quickly; he confronts roadblocks constantly—such as medicine that goes missing, diseases he doesn’t have the tools to treat, skepticism from his patients regarding modern medicine, and a bus out of town that doesn’t run very often—and he gets unwittingly pulled into local politics. In addition to the activities at the clinic, the novel’s other throughline is the doctor’s relationship with Farah, which becomes complicated. The tale is straightforwardly told, and the language is often frank, though the book also has some moral ambiguity. Many of the episodes are engaging, especially as the novel goes on, and the doctor doesn’t always act heroically.
The compelling tale of an under-resourced physician.Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9780815612025
Page Count: 310
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
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.
