An informative tale about a once-famous musician and activist that will appeal to history buffs.
A fictional retelling of the life of famous jazz musician Hazel Scott, tracing the trajectory of her career, family life, and political activism.
The novel opens in 1943, as Hazel Scott performs at Café Society, a famous New York City night club where seating was integrated and customers of all races were treated equally. Sitting in the crowd is Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., a well-known pastor and up-and-coming politician. He can’t take his eyes off Hazel, and it’s obvious he’s smitten. The only problem is he’s married to someone else. As Adam begins to pursue Hazel, she wonders if she can stomach being the other woman and whether a more serious relationship might derail her career. The book follows Hazel and Adam as their relationship deepens, chronicling Hazel’s meteoric rise as well as Adam’s ascent to political power. Not all members of Adam’s church community are as taken with Hazel as he is, concerned about the perceived morals of a nightclub performer. Hazel, meanwhile, worries that getting too close to Adam will jeopardize her hard-earned momentum. As an activist for racial equality who refuses to play at segregated venues, Hazel knows her career is about far more than earning a living. The question, however, is whether turmoil in her personal life will undermine everything she’s worked for. With appearances from cultural figures including Billie Holiday and Langston Hughes, the book is full of historical detail from the era. Unfortunately, at times it feels more like a history lesson than a gripping story. The conflicts experienced by the main characters don’t surface until late in the novel, leaving the early portions feeling slow and diffuse. Even so, the novel offers a vivid portrait of a significant figure in American history while exploring deeper personal issues like infidelity, ambition, and self-doubt.
An informative tale about a once-famous musician and activist that will appeal to history buffs.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9780063421189
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 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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