A skillfully rendered fictional account of an obscure but fascinating slice of history.
Kinsey’s historical novel portrays a notorious 17th-century kidnapping on Ireland’s south coast.
The novel reimagines the 1631 Barbary Coast corsairs’ invasion of the Irish coast, in which they set fire to the village of Baltimore and kidnap nearly all the inhabitants. The corsairs then set sail with their captives as cargo on a monthlong voyage to Algiers, dodging the French and Spanish navies along the way, where they will sell their human cargo into slavery. The corsair captain, Murad Reis, is a Dutchman who has converted to Islam and becomes an increasingly complex character as the story progresses. The passage to Algiers is rough, and along the way there are even some belowdecks murders to solve. Once the ship arrives in Algiers, a North African city rivaling the most beautiful places in Europe, husbands and wives are separated, and some mothers never see their children again. Religion is serious business in Algiers, and many captured Calvinists convert to Islam to get better treatment (some even become true believers) over the many years they are enslaved. The author focuses on a few select characters and fashions some intriguing fates for them. Capt. Murad leaves soon after he gets to Algiers to go on more plundering adventures. But he shows up again two years later to free Felix Gunter and his brother Caleb Gunter from slavery. Ciara, a beautiful Irish maid, takes the adventure in stride (“The captain says you’ll be sold to the pasha, Ciara.” “Well, I do hope so.”) but quickly realizes that harem life is not for her. Religion is an important plot element in the novel, and not just Islam and Christianity: As it turns out, the village of Baltimore’s fate was sealed by local Irish Catholics who hated the English Calvinist interlopers. Swashbuckling sea battles provide ample action here, and lore about weapons and tactics will delight devotees of pre-20th-century history. This is also a story that questions not just religious beliefs, but also mankind’s true identity under heaven. But it is ultimately the characters—and their attendant vices and virtues—that grab the reader’s attention over the course of the novel.
A skillfully rendered fictional account of an obscure but fascinating slice of history.Pub Date: May 24, 2023
ISBN: 9780995292185
Page Count: 374
Publisher: Cinegrafica Films & Publishing Inc
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2023
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
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
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