Is this a tragedy or a comedy? Though it ends up uneasily in the middle, it’s well-written and juicy.
A family of Nigerian women finds their romantic lives plagued by a long-ago curse in the new novel by the author of My Sister, the Serial Killer (2018).
As Braithwaite’s story opens, a 25-year-old woman named Monife is about to drown herself in the ocean due to a disappointment in love: “The tragedy had already happened and this was simply the inevitable consequence.” On the day of her funeral, her cousin Ebun gives birth to a daughter who looks exactly like her late aunty. Little Eniiyi will grow to resemble Monife more and more closely, and eventually her life will become deeply entangled with and reflective of Monife’s. No woman in the family has ever had a successful relationship with a man, and family lore traces this back to a forebear who stole another woman’s husband and was cursed by her as follows: “No man will call your house, home. And if they try, they will not have peace. Your daughters are cursed—they will pursue men, but the men will be like water in their palms. Your granddaughters will love in vain. Your great granddaughters will labour for acknowledgement, but they will fall short of other women. Your daughters, your daughters daughters and all the women to come will suffer for man’s sake.” This whole novel revolves around the questions of whether Eniiyi is in fact the reincarnation of Monife, and whether there really is such a thing as a curse. The problem is that you will come away unsure. Eniiyi herself thinks it’s hooey and plans to go into genetic counseling to deal with the matter of inheritance in a more rational way, but when push comes to shove, she too consults the juju lady. The chapters jump back and forth through time, ranging from 1994 to 2025, and among the perspectives of Monife, Ebun, and Eniiyi, and thankfully by the end the women seem to be getting a little more control of their destinies (even the dead one!).
Is this a tragedy or a comedy? Though it ends up uneasily in the middle, it’s well-written and juicy.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780385551472
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.
An artwork’s value grows if you understand the stories of the people who inspired it.
Never in her wildest dreams would foster kid Louisa dream of meeting C. Jat, the famous painter of The One of the Sea, which depicts a group of young teens on a pier on a hot summer’s day. But in Backman’s latest, that’s just what happens—an unexpected (but not unbelievable) set of circumstances causes their paths to collide right before the dying 39-year-old artist’s departure from the world. One of his final acts is to bequeath that painting to Louisa, who has endured a string of violent foster homes since her mother abandoned her as a child. Selling the painting will change her life—but can she do it? Before deciding, she accompanies Ted, one of the artist’s close friends and one of the young teens captured in that celebrated painting, on a train journey to take the artist’s ashes to his hometown. She wants to know all about the painting, which launched Jat’s career at age 14, and the circle of beloved friends who inspired it. The bestselling author of A Man Called Ove (2014) and other novels, Backman gives us a heartwarming story about how these friends, set adrift by the violence and unhappiness of their homes, found each other and created a new definition of family. “You think you’re alone,” one character explains, “but there are others like you, people who stand in front of white walls and blank paper and only see magical things. One day one of them will recognize you and call out: ‘You’re one of us!’” As Ted tells stories about his friends—how Jat doubted his talents but found a champion in fiery Joar, who took on every bully to defend him; how Ali brought an excitement to their circle that was “like a blinding light, like a heart attack”—Louisa recognizes herself as a kindred soul and feels a calling to realize her own artistic gifts. What she decides to do with the painting is part of a caper worthy of the stories that Ted tells her. The novel is humorous, poignant, and always life-affirming, even when describing the bleakness of the teens’ early lives. “Art is a fragile magic, just like love,” as someone tells Louisa, “and that’s humanity’s only defense against death.”
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781982112820
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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