Riveting and humorous—a great choice for history buffs who enjoy a bit of decadence.
Two former soldiers experience the highs and lows of 1920s Paris following the Great War in Helms’ historical novel.
At the age of 22, Beau Shipley fights in World War I alongside fellow soldier Keeby Styles. After being injured, the pair are recovering in a Paris hospital when the war ends. Keeby stays in Paris and tries his hand at writing, initially penning anonymous human-interest pieces for a Bolshevik broadsheet. Meanwhile, Beau returns home to Charleston, only to find that things have changed since he left for the frontlines (“he ruminated about the upended world to which he had returned, and how little of it made sense”). Victoria, the woman he loved, has become a depressed recluse, and his father wants him to take over the family’s tobacco shipping business. Disillusioned with life in his hometown, Beau returns to Paris and moves in with Keeby in 1921. While Keeby writes a book about Prince Grigorii, a Russian refugee who finds work as a gigolo, Beau becomes a painter after a disastrous meeting with Gertrude Stein. The pair is quickly swept up in the bohemian atmosphere of the city, sharing lovers and artistic aspirations as they hobnob with the likes of Georges Braque, Ezra Pound, and Ernest Hemingway. Helms does a phenomenal job of conveying the mood of postwar Paris with his prose: “The world had stopped in place for four years while the inbred crowned heads of Europe turned the countryside into an abattoir. Now, the war a fading memory, hedonism and celebration consumed Paris with a vengeance.” The theme of people finding themselves irrevocably changed by the Great War is similarly enthralling. Though there are some jarring plot devices thrown in at the 11th hour, Helms presents an incredibly engaging tale with quick-witted dialogue and a view into a historical period that feels both emotionally honest and charmingly nostalgic.
Riveting and humorous—a great choice for history buffs who enjoy a bit of decadence.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
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 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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