An ambitious journey through history that captivates with its spectacular scenery.
Schell's sweeping historical epic charts the coming-of-age of a young Chinese man in his search for identity, belonging, and love across two continents.
The novel begins in Beijing, where 14-year-old Li Wende, called Little Li, lives with his father, Li Tongshu, a music professor at the local conservatory. Their lives become increasingly more restricted under Mao Zedong's intensifying Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, as the Red Guard frequently harasses anyone who appears sympathetic to Christianity or what they consider Western art or thought—eventually including Little Li and his father. Little Li moves from one kind of exile to another, never feeling at home anywhere. Having been born to a Chinese father and Chinese American mother, Little Li often feels like an outsider in Beijing. He dreams of leaving China to study the flute in the U.S., but his late mother's sister tells him he'll be on his own if he gets there. Torn between the shifting cultural and political influences of Chairman Mao and then Deng Xiaoping, however, his home in Beijing also threatens to become a place he no longer recognizes. From remote labor camps in the mountains of Tibet to seedy hotels in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District, each setting is infused with such animated detail that they all seem to come alive. Schell similarly renders Little Li’s beloved works of classical music with such tender specificity that the pages almost sing. At times, however, the main characters’ lives appear to be the background against which history unfolds rather than the other way around, perhaps owing to Schell’s long career as a journalist and historian. Readers will emerge from the novel with keen insights into China's struggle to determine its political, economic, and cultural identity. However, they also may be left without a clear sense of who Little Li really is, despite journeying with him for more than 600 pages.
An ambitious journey through history that captivates with its spectacular scenery.Pub Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-31581-1
Page Count: 624
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
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
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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