A stirring yet rudimentary examination of failed love.
A debut volume of poetry explores love, loss, and suicide.
Described as “a poetry journal,” this collection opens with a piece of flash fiction entitled “THE TWO OF US: A STORY.” It describes a young girl vomiting in the bathroom at a college party. Inebriated and distressed, she castigates herself, asking, “Why can’t I be normal?” To her surprise, she is suddenly confronted with the image of her own body, “cold and unresponsive,” on the floor. Outside of the stall, she finds another incarnation of herself fixing her makeup. The tale introduces various themes found in the poetry that follows. Many poems, such as “THE END,” deal with breakups and the ensuing feelings of worthlessness: “Because if you go, it is the end of my fucking boring life.” Others approach thoughts of self-harm and suicide, as found in “THIS IS HOW I DEAL WITH IT”: “Maybe I’ll slit my wrists / Or cut my thighs.” But other poems, such as “BIRTHDAY SHOOTING STAR,” hope for a better life: “I want to be loved in such a way that my soul is consumed.” Glimmers of hope are nevertheless unusual in a collection dedicated to “those who have a hard time loving themselves.” Some readers will strongly identify with the female protagonist’s feelings of ostracization and her desire to numb her pain with alcohol in “THE TWO OF US.” The idea of her dividing into other “selves” is thought provoking, but the plot remains underdeveloped. Unfortunately, R.F.’s poetry often lacks nuance. The poet identifies fundamental sensations, like pain, but does not unpack these feelings using vivid language. In “THE ROOM,” R.F. writes: “Cry next to him, with the silent noise / Of a love that has died; A love from anyone. / Abandoned in a cold room / Immersed in a sea of pain / Sabotaged by the waves of loneliness.” While the oxymoron “silent noise” captures the void forged by loss, lines like “Immersed in a sea of pain” seem cliched and insufficiently explorative. The result is a collection of poetry that repeatedly circles emotions but rarely provides trenchant commentary.
A stirring yet rudimentary examination of failed love.Pub Date: March 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-69870-028-1
Page Count: 118
Publisher: Trafford on Demand Pub
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2020
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
A welcome literary resurrection that deserves a place alongside Wright’s best-known work.
A falsely accused Black man goes into hiding in this masterful novella by Wright (1908-1960), finally published in full.
Written in 1941 and '42, between Wright’s classics Native Son and Black Boy, this short novel concerns Fred Daniels, a modest laborer who’s arrested by police officers and bullied into signing a false confession that he killed the residents of a house near where he was working. In a brief unsupervised moment, he escapes through a manhole and goes into hiding in a sewer. A series of allegorical, surrealistic set pieces ensues as Fred explores the nether reaches of a church, a real estate firm, and a jewelry store. Each stop is an opportunity for Wright to explore themes of hope, greed, and exploitation; the real estate firm, Wright notes, “collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent from poor colored folks.” But Fred’s deepening existential crisis and growing distance from society keep the scenes from feeling like potted commentaries. As he wallpapers his underground warren with cash, mocking and invalidating the currency, he registers a surrealistic but engrossing protest against divisive social norms. The novel, rejected by Wright’s publisher, has only appeared as a substantially truncated short story until now, without the opening setup and with a different ending. Wright's take on racial injustice seems to have unsettled his publisher: A note reveals that an editor found reading about Fred’s treatment by the police “unbearable.” That may explain why Wright, in an essay included here, says its focus on race is “rather muted,” emphasizing broader existential themes. Regardless, as an afterword by Wright’s grandson Malcolm attests, the story now serves as an allegory both of Wright (he moved to France, an “exile beyond the reach of Jim Crow and American bigotry”) and American life. Today, it resonates deeply as a story about race and the struggle to envision a different, better world.
A welcome literary resurrection that deserves a place alongside Wright’s best-known work.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-59853-676-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Library of America
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
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