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
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
