An intricately detailed but emotionally flat novel set in early medieval Ireland.
A monk and an upstart king take on a tyrant in De Fougerolles’ latest historical novel in a series.
Columba, a long-exiled abbot and prince, has returned to his native Ireland. For years, he has lived on the Scottish isle of Iona, building a monastery; now he’s come back home, where he’s at the side of his old friend, Aedan mac Gabran, who reigns as the new king of the united Dal Riatas, a small state that spans the channel between Scotland and Ireland. Aedan’s come to make war on an old enemy—the overking of Ulaid, Baetan mac Cairell, who currently holds both of Aedan’s wives and one of his sons hostage. Aedan’s grip on the fractious Dal Riata is tenuous: “As I see it, you seek to unite, if you can, rather than to divide,” Columba advises Aedan. “That is a noble pursuit, a virtue in anyone….Whether you can unite here, we can only wait and see. But you must act; you know you must.” In order to win allies to their cause, Columba and Aedan must install a teenager, imprisoned by Baetan mac Cairell, on the throne of a nearby kingdom.At the same time, they’re desperate to learn the fate of Eogan mac Gabran, Aedan’s brother who was recently kidnapped by rogue monks. The two quests will take the friends through the petty kingdoms of northern Ireland, negotiating a complex political system involving warlords, abbots, and kings. At the same time, a plague has arrived from the continent and is slowly creeping north across the island. Can Aedan and Columba hold their weakened federation together long enough to defeat a tyrant? It will take all their bravery and cunning—and perhaps a bit of help from Columba’s God.
Historian de Fougerolles displays a deep understanding of the nuances of ancient Irish society, offering readers a blend of Gaelic cultural practices and insular Christian theology. Here, for example, Columba explains in detail how a petty king might beneficially cultivate a monastery on his lands: “Being dicenn—being kinless, or ‘headless’, as they say—the exiled Christian may apply to the lord of the strange land in which they find themselves, to petition that he take them under his protection….For, in law, as you know, the king of a tuath is responsible—can choose to be responsible—for a kinless man.” This loving attention to history is offset, though, by a relative lack of development when it comes to characters’ psychology. There’s plenty of scheming and oath-swearing, but readers may have trouble finding very much to care about in these men and women, in part because so many of their motivations are rooted in their cultural moment. The author does her best to make the material accessible—there are plenty of maps, a glossary, a timeline, and a guide to pronouncing the many unintuitive proper names—but the biggest barrier that readers will face is the lack of relatable stakes. An intricately detailed but emotionally flat novel set in early medieval Ireland.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2022
ISBN: 9780692043868
Page Count: 421
Publisher: Careswell Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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