Gripping courtroom drama and social commentary.
A tale about a tense legal battle over race and love, based on the sensational 1924 case of Rhinelander v. Rhinelander in White Plains, New York.
Leonard Kip Rhinelander, “pampered scion of an aristocratic bloodline,” meets and falls in love with Alice Jones, a beautiful, alluring young woman of English and West Indian background. The attraction is mutual, and she appears to be indifferent to his wealth. They run off and marry, the news of which is too much for Leonard’s domineering and racist father, Philip, who has his son kidnapped. Leonard, who has a weak backbone, sues for annulment of his own marriage, with expensive lawyers paid for and under the orders of Philip. The grounds? Alice supposedly tricked Leonard into thinking she was White. Defending Alice, attorney Lee Parsons Davis warns her that the trial will be nasty and brutal. Indeed, Leonard’s lawyers look out only for Philip’s interest, portraying Leonard as a stuttering, “brain-tied idiot” defrauded by a whore who just wants a piece of the family fortune. The marriage must be annulled! Thus unfolds an epic courtroom clash that gains national headlines for weeks. Tension builds for both courtroom and reader. The existence of love letters comes to light—Leonard apparently wrote some doozies describing sex acts Davis deems disgusting, unnatural, even illegal. But will he introduce the correspondence into evidence? He keeps the courtroom on tenterhooks. Alice is deeply sympathetic as she receives and rejects repeated offers of cash to settle the case and go away; she simply wants her marriage back. Opposing attorneys smear her entire family with racist insults. Davis is the primary narrator, and he is masterful in building suspense as opposing sides brutalize each other. Davis makes it known that he is a renowned trial attorney; and he is a great storyteller as well, though he—or the author—suffers from a touch of logorrhea as he drives home essential points. Still, the story flows well.
Gripping courtroom drama and social commentary.Pub Date: Nov. 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-063-11546-0
Page Count: 576
Publisher: HarperVia
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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