A resonant novel for any reader who knows what it is to build a life in a new, sometimes unfriendly, place.
The lives of two immigrants in 19th-century America converge on the East Coast in Matthews’ debut historical novel.
In 1883, Irishwoman Johanna Kennedy is working at a hotel in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, when her friend Kathleen brings in En Chang, an immigrant from China who’s looking for work. The lives of Johanna and En become entangled as they both experience their own struggles in this new town, which is rife with corruption and the threat of violence from the Molly Maguires as tensions in Ireland spill over into the New World. Matthews has taken as the novel’s subject the intertwined yet very different experiences of two sets of immigrants to America in the latter half of the 19th century: the Chinese and the Irish, both of whom experienced extreme hardship and racism. The character of Johanna is actually based upon the author’s own great-grandmother, and there’s a loving tenderness applied to her story. A devoted mother to her children who found herself having to marry her husband after her true love died, Johanna is propelled by her experience of loss to try to build a better future—a highly compelling and emotional journey, mired deeply in loss. (A line in the prologue, “Grief is love with nowhere to go,” truly seems to set the theme for Matthews’ novel.) Though much of En’s and Johanna’s stories unfold between 1882 and 1885, the narrative does flash back as far as En’s journey with his family from China to San Francisco in 1860. These sections are great for story building, but they occasionally break up the flow of the main narrative with their sporadic and sometimes uneven appearances. This material lends the novel the feel of an epic, generational story, however, with Matthews’ powerful writing masterfully blending history and fiction.
A resonant novel for any reader who knows what it is to build a life in a new, sometimes unfriendly, place.Pub Date: Feb. 21, 2019
ISBN: 9781732110922
Page Count: 408
Publisher: Starfish Group
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2024
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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