Complex characters propel this diverting vampire tale.
In this darkly comic novel, a vampire’s chance to become mortal again requires tracking down all the people she turned into the undead.
As a vampire, Texan Veronica Bouchard keeps a low profile. She’s a hospice nurse who typically feeds on terminally ill patients. But when there’s a chance authorities will link her to two recent deaths, Veronica flies to California to see her daughter, Ingrid. As she was the one who turned her mother into a vampire in the 1800s, Ingrid apologizes to Veronica. Not only does this make Ingrid mortal, the act also returns Veronica’s soul. For the first time in over a century, Veronica can see her reflection. She can be mortal, too, but she will have to make amends to everyone she turned into a vampire. She’s more than willing to do this. At the perpetual age of 51, Veronica endures never-ending menopause. She consequently takes a road trip, bringing along her new friend Jenny Pearson, a struggling addict who discovers what Veronica is. Veronica’s vampire victims are a motley assortment, some more dangerous than others. And the possibility of arrest back in Texas isn’t even Veronica’s biggest threat: Jenny’s politician father puts someone on his daughter’s trail. Skjolsvik’s fanged hero is profoundly complicated. For example, Veronica has an aversion to men who hurt women, but she has killed many people, and not all of them were hospice patients. This novel’s vivid journey is a learning experience for her. She acknowledges some of her flaws and realizes certain vampire fundamentals, like things that can kill the undead, are simply untrue. Jenny is a strong supporting character, earning Veronica’s sympathy (the vampire regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to help control her own addiction). Jenny’s hemochromatosis tempts Veronica with delicious, iron-rich blood. And much of the catchy, often humorous dialogue involves Jenny, whose incessant insults—douchebag is an unquestionable favorite—are especially entertaining.
Complex characters propel this diverting vampire tale. (acknowledgements)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-945419-62-1
Page Count: 356
Publisher: Fawkes Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
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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