A bold and beautifully written examination of a mother’s love told through the eyes of Cinderella’s “wicked” stepmother.
Twice widowed and struggling to maintain the decaying manor house she and her daughters are trapped in, Lady Etheldreda Verity Isolde Tremaine Bramley does everything in her power to obtain an invitation to a royal ball that could change their lives forever.
After the death of her second husband, Ethel finds herself without any money, in charge of a rapidly crumbling house and its staff, and struggling to look after her daughters, Rosamund and Mathilde, and their self-righteous, stick-in-the-mud stepsister, Elin (aka Cinderella). It’s a challenge, to say the least. Ethel clings desperately to the image of a proper and well-to-do lady while doing whatever she can—including hunting in the woods with her peregrine falcon, Lucy—in order to protect her family and make ends meet. When word reaches her of an upcoming royal ball that could lead to a highly coveted engagement to the prince, she becomes determined to help her daughters earn an invitation, only to have Elin be invited instead. As time passes and the engagement unfolds quickly, Ethel comes to realize that Prince Charming and the royal family are not all they’re chalked up to be, and that she must choose between the life she’s sought for years and the well-being of a stepdaughter who’s never loved her. Ethel is so much more than the cartoonishly villainous Wicked Stepmother that fans of Cinderella have come to know over the years. Instead, Hochhauser has created a desperate and prideful woman who would do anything in her power to ensure that her daughters have an easier life than she’s had. Readers will no doubt find themselves rooting for Ethel as she recounts the life she once had, the love she’s lost, and her unwavering devotion to her daughters.
A bold and beautifully written examination of a mother’s love told through the eyes of Cinderella’s “wicked” stepmother.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781250396341
Page Count: 352
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
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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