An emotionally resonant portrait of the artist as a young woman.
A young woman in 17th-century Amsterdam uncovers her artistic potential in D’Harlingue’s historical novel.
Artist Isaac van Brug embarks upon an African expedition in 1642 with Jan Van Herder to meet with the king of Congo and to visit Mbanza Congo—San Salvador—and the river Kwango to make sketches of the region. He loses his drawings in a storm. To supplement the family’s income, his children, Anneke and her brother, Lucas, learn to color maps at a young age under their mother Lysbeth’s tutelage. While map coloring inspires Lucas to see the world, Anneke becomes immersed in the craft and surpasses her mother’s skill, thus gaining the attention of Heer Meyert, of Joan Blaeu’s printing house. Anneke is invited to work at the printing house and subsequently impresses Joan Blaeu himself when she is commissioned to work at the home of the aristocratic Willem de Groot, where she becomes enmeshed in de Groot’s wife Helena’s adulterous scandal. Longing to create her own map, Anneke works on a representation of her father’s African journey. However, her dreams are not all that she imagined when entrenched family secrets lead to unimagined hardship (“If he had known how it would end, my father would have struck the paintbrush from my young hand”). The author’s emotionally resonant narrative follows the coming-of-age of a female artist fueled by a passion for her work and a deep longing to contribute something of value to the world. D’Harlingue deftly portrays her struggles and the complicated relationship dynamics that emerge as Anneke shares her work with others, ultimately exposing disturbing truths that harm all involved. The book is a convincing depiction of the period, in which women were not celebrated for their artistic accomplishments. Although there are moments when plot machinations seem to overshadow Anneke’s personal story, the novel is impressively researched, well paced, and compelling.
An emotionally resonant portrait of the artist as a young woman.Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9781647425470
Page Count: 312
Publisher: She Writes Press
Review Posted Online: June 6, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
SEEN & HEARD
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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