An earnest and poignant bildungsroman.
A young woman leaves home in search of her family during the Civil War in Ehrlich’s debut historical novel.
In 1865, 15-year-old Ellis Cady lives alone in her Western Tennessee home. Her father and Walter, one of her brothers, left two years prior to sell some horses but haven’t returned. Her twin brother, Earl, left shortly afterward to look for them, and then Ellis’ mother died. One day, Ellis makes the decision to leave home with a few belongings and her beloved horse, Billie. She first stops at her friend’s house, only to find it abandoned, before making her way down a trail where she discovers her brother Earl, who has sad news but doesn’t know where their father is. The two get caught up in a Civil War battle, during which Ellis is grazed by a bullet. She awakens in the care of Libby, a Cherokee woman who’s riding with a diverse group of men. Later, after stopping in Jamestown, Missouri, she finds her uncle’s ranch, where she learns more about her family and becomes more determined to locate her father, certain that he’s still alive. Ehrlich’s prose is accessible and spare and particularly skillful at describing the harsh reality of war and its battlegrounds: “Fragments of bone and skull escaped earth’s hollow grasp….A large ribcage, still covered by thin hide. Another and another.” The story simultaneously highlights the loneliness and camaraderie that can be found during wartime. Additionally, Ellis’ coming-of-age adds a personal layer to the battle-laden background, as when she spies Libby making love with her husband and encounters previously unknown feelings. Although the story is earnest and often compelling, there are a lot of scenes of Ellis simply wandering and riding from place to place, which may not interest readers who prefer more action. Still, Ehrlich’s story of a girl surrounded by loss and death as she searches for her family is engaging and makes for a quick, heartfelt read.
An earnest and poignant bildungsroman.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2022
ISBN: 9798985997408
Page Count: 255
Publisher: Bay Feather Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2022
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
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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