An emotionally intense tale enlivened by unique literary history.
Veprinski’s historical novel explores passionate love and angst within New York’s early-20th-century Yiddish literary community.
Miriam and David Eidelberg’s marriage is already languishing when Miriam, who is in her mid-20s and the mother of a 7-year-old daughter, is first introduced to Nyezhiner, the mononymic celebrity poet of the Yiddish literary circle known as “Di Yunge” (the Youth). She has read all of his poetry—and has even memorized some of it—and she is entranced by the handsome, enigmatic luminary. He is 33, married, and the father of five children, all of whom he left (but still supports) for the love of another woman…whom he has also left. Miriam and Nyezhiner meet at a gathering where a collection of poets, essayists, and novelists are exchanging ideas. Later, the two take a walk across the Williamsburg Bridge in a gentle interlude that signals the beginning of what will become a 30-year love affair. Although drawn to the moody poet, Miriam is cautious. Still a teenager when she married and had her daughter Dinaleh, she now needs to find her own path. Nyezhimer, on the other hand, quickly becomes obsessed with her. After a painful confrontation with her husband David (“he came closer, very close, then raised his hand and gave her face a hard slap”), Miriam moves in with her brother, sister-in-law, and mother. A distraught Nyezhimer searches for her, occasionally waiting through the night in the street outside her brother’s house. Veprinski’s dramatic autobiographical novel traces the first tumultuous year of the relationship between the author (Miriam in the novel) and the lyric poet Mani Leyb (Nyezhiner). Ellen Cassedy and Anita Norich have translated the melancholy narrative, first published in Yiddish in 1971; they have beautifully captured the rhythms, humor, and intimacy of the original text. The story is a detailed portrait of a time, place, and culture. Populated by a large cast of Yiddish writers of the day (all of the names have been changed), the novel engages readers with an intriguing variety of artistic personalities and temperaments.
An emotionally intense tale enlivened by unique literary history.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9798990998094
Page Count: 195
Publisher: White Goat Press
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2025
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
SEEN & HEARD
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
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