A dark, invitingly whimsical tale that grows more mysterious as the pages go by.
A surreal adventure novel set in 18th-century Europe from debut author Rogers.
Dr. Jackson “Jack” Predinger is a Jewish physician who lives in Sweden during the time of Frederick the Great. Jack not only has an intimate knowledge of several religious texts, he also understands advanced, anachronistic concepts of psychology. High society women flock to his practice to see what aid he can provide. One such person is a beautiful woman named Loretta Vandermeer, distraught following the death of her husband. If only there were a way to contact him. Jack believes this may be possible through a Russian medium, who belongs to a particularly severe, self-mutilating religious sect (they remove their genitals as a means for purification) known as the Skoptsy. But if Loretta and Jack want to benefit from this Skoptsy’s abilities, they’ll need to venture into the unknown. A journey is organized even as “travel in those days was irregular. Yet regular enough.” Soon the duo encounters an unsavory figure named Sammy, who is, in short, evil. Sammy, who joins them on their journey, does nothing to improve their prospects. Things get stranger and stranger as the characters travel on. Aspects of a Western develop when Sammy is pursued by a posse, and Dr. Jack makes comments like “You know they hang horse thieves, don’t you, Loretta!” At just over 100 pages, the story moves quickly with aspects that are historical (the Skoptsy were a real sect) and bizarre (a castle resembling something from a Bosch painting). It all amounts to a truly wild narrative that is occasionally bogged down by backstory. For instance, that Sammy was the youngest of three children doesn’t add much to the fact that he will later ride a horse with a “large decaying man” behind him. The more pressing issue is where the horse ride is ultimately going to end, something readers will want to see for themselves.
A dark, invitingly whimsical tale that grows more mysterious as the pages go by.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 125
Publisher: Beatnik Cowboy Press
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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
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