A historically authentic war tale that never quite takes full flight.
In 1943, an Austrian forcibly conscripted into Hitler’s army is captured and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in Texas in this debut novel.
Stephan Jurgen never wanted to leave his native Vienna to serve as a pawn of Nazi imperialism, but he wasn’t given a choice. He is captured by American forces in the North African desert and interrogated by Ralph Bauer, a captain in the Military Intelligence Service. Stephan saves his life, pulling him out of the path of an errant military vehicle. Grateful and convinced Stephan isn’t a Nazi loyalist, Ralph vows to track him down after the soldier is sent to America. Stephan ends up in a POW camp in Huntsville, a small town north of Houston, that just happens to be Ralph’s hometown. Ralph’s younger sister, Rose, is a schoolteacher there. The family is of German extraction, and since she speaks the language fluently, she is recruited to work at the POW camp as an interpreter. When Stephan is sent to Rose’s family farm as part of a work detail, the two become acquainted and develop a bond that threatens to blossom into something romantic. Meanwhile, Stephan is tossed into a dangerously mixed population of inmates; some, like him, are unhappy conscripts, and others are devout Nazis who violently tyrannize them. In this ambitious tale, Fleming intelligently conveys Stephan’s unenviable plight—he receives moral approval from neither his American captors nor his fellow German soldiers, a victim of impersonal historical forces. The author also offers readers an array of intriguing characters and plenty of rich period details. But Fleming’s writing lacks literary style and too heavy-handedly foreshadows the plot’s trajectory. Referring to Rose, the omniscient narrator can’t help but jump ahead in a way that diminishes the story’s power: “Little does she realize that the one person who will soon embrace these unwelcome visitors is Uncle Pete. And one guest in particular will change Rose forever.”
A historically authentic war tale that never quite takes full flight.Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2020
ISBN: 979-8-67-365687-7
Page Count: 385
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 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
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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