An intriguing, well-researched, and well-told tale of ancient Rome.
A historical novel gives readers a view of ancient Rome from the rare perspective of a good man just trying to do an honest job.
It is the reign of Octavian, and Lucius Nonius Donatus, an engineer, is commissioned to construct a fountain in a very dubious neighborhood, the Subura, “the crotch of Rome.” Nonius is a pro—talented, modest, and conscientious. But this is Rome, so the engineering is the least of his problems. He has to deal with wily politicians, grifters, street gangs, and arrogant aristocrats and arrivistes. This diverse group includes the Lucceia clan, featuring Quintus Lucceis Hirrius, master of the house (and a senator) and enemy of Nonius. Quintus’ wife, Calixta, is the engineer’s erstwhile lover. Enter Amaris, who will in fact be the love of Nonius’ life. When just a child, she was given to the Lucceia household not as an enslaved person, exactly, but certainly as chattel with no will of her own. She is also a Gaul, striking and proud. The story veers between the tribulations of getting the fountain project done and the slow kindling of Nonius’ love for Amaris and the tortuous complications of that affair. Nicastro is an experienced and accomplished writer and often a prose poet in his descriptions of Nonius and Amaris: “If his life was a stem, she was the rose,” and “Trapped there, between the Scylla of oblivion and the Charybdis of inconsequence he was powerless to go on.” This is a Rome falling fast from greatness, though oblivious to the descent. The Republic is dead; Octavian will soon style himself “Augustus,” a god. Sycophancy and cynicism are the orders of the day. The captivating book does, in fact, provide an excellent slice of history. But what is the audience to make of the love between Nonius and Amaris? She wants terribly to love Nonius but is warped by her pride and rage. As for Nonius, readers see him as an older man inspecting that project in the Subura. The fountain is the pride of the neighborhood. The Street of the Labia is now called the Street of the Aqueduct, signaling a job well done.
An intriguing, well-researched, and well-told tale of ancient Rome.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
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