A spirited novel of obligation and ethics in a time of brutality.
In Horvitz’s historical novel, a would-be rabbi finds himself on the front lines of the Russo–Turkish War.
All the Jews of Navahrudak know and fear the conscription officer, who delivers the news whenever some young man has been drafted into the Russian Imperial Army. (He’s so unpopular that he works at night, affixing his notices to people’s doors.) When a letter arrives instructing Yakov Leibovich to report for a barracks assignment, his tinker father—a conscripted veteran of the Crimean War—flies into a rage. “You will be cannon fodder, Yakov!” he cries. “Is that what you want to be? Do you want to die in a frozen trench so the Tsar can beat his chest and draw bigger maps of the Russian Empire?” The 20-year-old rabbinical student—whose primary interests are the Torah and fantasizing about the buxom Rivkah Eizenberg, who gathers scraps in the market square—agrees that dying in a frozen trench is not at all what he wants. The intervention of a rabbi secures Yakov a job with a private military supply firm—but only on the condition that Yakov find another Jew to fight in his place. Yakov reluctantly fingers a squatter who lives on the edge of town, a man who seems to have no family. Only after the man is taken away does Yakov learn that he’s a long-lost childhood friend: Avram Eizenberg, brother of Rivkah. Consumed by guilt (“At times, my mind conjures images of a hurt and tearful young woman cursing me, closing her hands into fists, and beating my chest for what I have done to her brother”), Yakov heads to Odessa to begin his work as an army supplier, resolved to find Avram and make sure that he comes to no harm. Yakov succeeds in locating his old friend, but Russia soon declares war on the Ottomans. Will Yakov ever find a way to make amends to Rivkah, or is he destined to follow his friend to a loveless early grave?
Horvitz’s prose, as narrated by Yakov, is spirited and philosophical, as befits a young man who finds himself caught between contemplation of God and a life of action. “At times, I feel the pull of cosmopolitan ideas that I know are inconsistent with the serious spiritual life that my learned rabbi requires,” laments Yakov. “But I cannot help myself. I have an insistent urge to know everything about everything.” The novel’s arc evokes the books of the period in which it is set; the story hinges on a moral failure and its long aftermath. There’s something timeless about Yakov’s journey, one that has the simplicity of a folktale and the weight of a vast Russian saga. Even so, the book takes itself slightly more seriously than readers might wish. A general lack of humor, as well as the rather sentimental treatment of some of the characters, lends the novel a slightly melodramatic quality. That said, readers of historical fiction who have a particular interest in the Pale of Settlement or Imperial Russia will undoubtedly enjoy Horvitz’s rich evocation of the era.
Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 2, 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
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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