A thoughtful, original historical novel sure to thrill any serious art lover.
Ireland’s historical novel imagines a fictional diary written by Jeanne Hébuterne, Amedeo Modigliani’s common-law wife, chronicling their tempestuous relationship in Paris.
Hébuterne is only 19 when she meets the famed painter, who is a much more mature 33. She falls deeply in love and refuses to leave him despite her conservative, petit-bourgeois Catholic family’s strenuous objections: They are not keen on the fact that he is a Jewish artist, not to mention an ostentatiously heavy drinker. Jeanne’s father had hoped she would become a nun—the often dissolute life she leads with Modi, as she calls him, couldn’t be further from the quietude of religious devotion. Their life together isn’t easy—they are perpetually broke, and his struggle with tuberculosis (he contracted it when he was only 16) only intensifies his already erratic behavior. And his infamous love of drink is often merely a way to disguise the TB symptoms in order to avoid becoming a social outcast if word got out he was infected by such a deadly, contagious disease. Ireland poignantly depicts the tragically conflicted Jeanne. On the one hand she is desperately hopeful that the birth of her second child with Modi will finally give her stability (she pines to officially marry him and even fantasizes about her wedding dress), but on the other hand, she realizes that Modi’s health is rapidly declining and that his days are numbered. She also worries about her own fate: “I place my hand on my belly, and watch Modi, who is doubled over, coughing, and gasping for breath, and see my future. I’m happy that little Jeanne isn’t here with us to share this fate. She must not. Above all, she must not.”
Ireland pulls off a difficult literary trick here: She manages to build a suspenseful atmosphere despite the forgone conclusion of this historical tale. One can’t help but sympathize with Jeanne, who surrenders so much of herself for a doomed love. A lively portrait of Modigliani emerges, too—he’s both a rakishly irresponsible artist as well as a bookish intellectual who “often carries a copy of Dante’s Divine Comedy in his pocket.” The author adeptly captures the remarkable artistic spirit of the early 20th century, particularly in Montparnasse, which was the stomping ground of so many notable artists like Picasso, Soutine, Utrillo, Apollinaire, and scores of others. The book includes gorgeous reproductions of not only Modigliani’s artwork, but also that of his contemporaries, including the haunting work (in a style similar to her lover’s) of Hébuterne, a gifted artist whose formidable legacy was entirely lost in Modigliani’s shadow. In fact, this is the central strength of the book: Hébuterne is rescued from being merely a bit player in Modigliani’s life. The author depicts her as a tragic figure (her saturnine end is all but foreordained) but fascinating in her own right—intellectually sharp if sometimes childishly naïve.
A thoughtful, original historical novel sure to thrill any serious art lover.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9780985054557
Page Count: 210
Publisher: Charles Square Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Great crime fiction.
An apparent suicide threatens to destroy an Irish farm town in the final volume of French’s Cal Hooper trilogy.
In the fictional western Ireland townland of Ardnakelty, “there’s a girl going after missing.” Soon young Rachel Holohan is found dead in the river. Shortly before, she had stopped at Lena Dunne’s home, and nothing had seemed amiss. The medical examiner determines she’d swallowed antifreeze, and he presumes she then fell from a bridge into the water. The medical examiner and the town agree she’d died by suicide. But there is far more to the plot: 16-year-old Trey Reddy thinks Tommy Moynihan murdered Rachel. Moynihan doles out favors and punishments to the local townsfolk, who know it’s best not to cross him. Now rumors spread that Moynihan wants land and has a secret plan to forcibly buy up parcels from the locals. A factory will be built, or a great big data center, or who knows what. If Tommy’s son, Eugene, can get elected to the local council, then compulsory purchase orders for land will follow, and the farms will disappear. Eugene, who’d been romantically involved with Rachel, is wonderfully described as “on the weedy edge of good-looking” and just fine as long as you “don’t have high expectations in the way of chins.” Lena is engaged to the American Cal Hooper, an ex-cop turned woodworker. They are “more or less raising” Trey, and these three core characters are drawn into the mystery of Rachel’s death and may have to face the looming clouds of civilizational change for Ardnakelty. Lena is chastised for “asking your wee questions all round the townland,” and Trey wants to quit school, against Cal’s advice. Finally, the story’s best line: “You can’t go killing people just because they deserve it.”
Great crime fiction.Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593493465
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
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