A vivid portrayal of the raging passions and ideals that fomented the French Revolution.
The second volume of Flinn’s trilogy, which imagines the life of servant turned French revolutionary Louis-Benoit Zamor.
Zamor, a Black Indian from Bengal, was born into poverty and as a child was sold by his mother to a slave trader. When he was 10 years old, he was purchased by France’s King Louis XV and given as a gift to his favorite mistress, Jeanne du Barry. At the Palace of Versailles, du Barry delights in her gift: Louis-Benoit is the little boy she and the king have never had. As Book Two opens, Zamor is a grown man, albeit still physically small in stature. It is the revolutionary year of 1789, and discontent is building among the French populace. Louis XV has died, and Louis XVI and his Austrian wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, now head the monarchy. Du Barry now resides in the Chateau de Louveciennes, where she entertains lesser royals; Zamor serves as her trusted page and confidant, accustomed to royal luxuries but denied the one thing he desires most: his emancipation. He convinces du Barry to allow him to visit Paris in the evenings, and there he becomes acquainted with members of the Jacobin Club, a group of enlightened thinkers who strive to make France a constitutional monarchy. As Zamor becomes more enmeshed with the Jacobins, he begins writing his own treatises. For most of the novel, through intermittent inserts presented as journal entries written in 1820, Zamor relates his tale in the past tense, immersing readers in the hopes, dreams, and brutality of the French Revolution. The story has some notably ironic moments, as when the king approves a more efficient method of execution—the guillotine—the very mechanism by which he will meet his own demise. Zamor himself is a complex character, equal parts philosopher and damaged soul. Flinn’s eloquent, historically astute prose combines the visceral horror of the revolution with tender sections, most of which are devoted to Zamor’s deep love for the seamstress Véronique.
A vivid portrayal of the raging passions and ideals that fomented the French Revolution.Pub Date: June 15, 2024
ISBN: 9798986060071
Page Count: 442
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2024
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
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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