A tender meditation on the unseen moments that shape history and the human spirit.
A deathbed confession opens into a journey through the history of the Philippines and a nuanced exploration of deep spiritual questions.
From a hospital bed where he is suffering complications from kidney surgery, Angelito Macaraeg begins a letter to his estranged son. Lito insists that he simply intends to tell “a good story”—something that might be useful for his son’s career as an American journalist. However, the deeper Lito delves into his memories, the more apparent becomes his struggle to make peace with the past. As Lito tells the story of his youth in the Philippines, he recounts his mother's murder, his father’s frequent disappearances, a troubling experience in the mountains at a Communist camp run by a retired “magical” priest, the experience of falling in love with his son’s mother and the circumstances that led to their estrangement. He also relives his formative experiences as a chauffeur for Corazon Aquino, who led the People Power Revolution of 1986 and later became president of the Philippines after her husband’s assassination. At the center of Lito’s reckoning with the past is a secret meeting between Mrs. Aquino and Imelda Marcos, the wife of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, whose extravagant lifestyle earned her the unofficial title “the Lady of the Thousand Shoes.” There is something almost Kierkegaard-ian in the way Go weaves together fictional narrative and nuanced explorations of forgiveness, redemption, guilt, and commitment to one’s ideals. His attention to historical detail breathes life into the novel’s philosophical inquiry, which avoids didacticism while striking at the heart of some of the most pressing questions of the human condition. Despite its often dramatic subject matter, Go’s narrative burns slowly, gracing the novel with an understated yet profound power.
A tender meditation on the unseen moments that shape history and the human spirit.Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9780374606947
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
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
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.
With only a month left until the world ends due to a swiftly approaching black hole, Don and Rodney, a retired gay couple, road-trip from Maine to Washington to spend their final days with their son.
After reports that a planet-swallowing black hole is making its way toward Earth, Rodney and Don—who have been together for 40 years and survived everything from homophobia to the HIV crisis—decide to pack their belongings into an RV, say goodbye to their neighbors, and travel from Camden, Maine, to Washington to uphold a promise to spend their final days with their son. They can’t wait any longer, since there’s already chaos around the country: “Military vehicles in the streets of most cities and towns. Looting, rioting, the burning of cars and buildings and people, all of it had already happened.” As they make their way west across the country, they encounter fellow travelers ranging from close-knit families to free-spirited hippies, some of whom have come to terms with the impending end of the world and others who haven’t. While the story seems to be asking readers what they would do if they had 30 days left to live, and reflects on what different kinds of acceptance might look like in the face of unavoidable tragedy, it loses some of its poignancy in a series of thinly padded monologues about the meaning of life. Clearly intended to pack an emotional punch, it’s failed by an abrupt ending, and the way the journey’s mystery—which will be obvious to many readers—is revealed by an info dump in the last chapter.
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781250881236
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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