Another difficult-to-classify novel from a seemingly fearless writer.
The author of Oligarchy (2020) and The Seed Collectors (2016) writes something like a thriller.
The epistolary novel is kind of a tough sell these days. Writing a narrative in letters might have given Samuel Richardson license to let his characters speak in candid, informal ways that were otherwise inaccessible, but his innovations are so much a part of Anglophone literature now that his runaway bestsellers Pamela and Clarissa mostly persist as punishment for English majors. That said, Thomas is nothing if not adventurous. In her latest novel, she dares to ask the reader for willing suspension of disbelief as she composes a novel from lengthy confessions written by a husband and a wife—with a few other documents tossed into the mix. Evelyn and Richard are honeymooning at a Greek resort that is famous both for its exclusivity and for the fact that it was the last stop for a couple that drowned together in the sea—the sleepwalkers of the title. The narrative begins in a letter Evelyn is writing to Richard, and two things are immediately clear: She and her new husband lightly despise each other, and isolated Villa Rosa is a strange and possibly dangerous place. Fans of Gothic literature are likely to settle in comfortably right away. For other readers, Evelyn’s voice should be compelling enough to let them forget that they’re reading a letter—a very long letter, crafted by hand, during one night—and immerse themselves in the story that Evelyn is telling. Thomas also lets Richard have his say, his account serving as a counterpoint to Evelyn’s. This is a novel about secrets, family curses, and the past erupting into the present: all gothic tropes. But Thomas’ concerns extend beyond her main characters; refugees, sex workers, and victims of human trafficking exist in the background and sometimes emerge as full characters.
Another difficult-to-classify novel from a seemingly fearless writer.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781668032985
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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 debut novel with bright spots, but unbalanced and lacking in finesse.
A high school senior pursues an affair with her teacher.
Seventeen-year-old Waldo, the narrator of McCurdy’s fiction debut, lives in Anchorage, Alaska, with her mother, though she’s long been the parent in their relationship. She heats her own frozen meals and pays the bills on time while her mom chases man after man and makes well-meaning promises she never keeps. Waldo blows her Victoria’s Secret wages on online shopping sprees and binges on junk food, inevitably crashing after the fleeting highs of her indulgences. Mr. Korgy, her creative writing teacher, has “thinning hair and nose pores”; he’s 40 years old and married with a child. Nevertheless—or possibly as a result?—Waldo’s attraction to him is “instant. So sudden it’s alarming. So palpable it’s confusing.” Mr. Korgy professes to want to keep their friendship aboveboard, but after a sexual encounter at the school’s winter formal that she initiates, an affair begins. Will this reckless pursuit be the one that actually satisfies Waldo, and is she as mature as she thinks she is? Waldo is a keen observer of people and provides sharp commentary on the punishing work of female beauty. Readers of McCurdy’s bestselling memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died (2022), will surely be curious about the tumultuous mother-daughter relationship, and it is one of the novel’s highlights, full of realistic pity and anger and need. (“I want to scream at her. I want her to hug me.”) Unfortunately, the prose is often unwieldy and sometimes downright cringeworthy: When Waldo tells Mr. Korgy she loves him, “The words hang in the air in that constipated way they do when you know that you shouldn’t have said them.” Waldo frequently lists emotions and adjectives in triplicate, and events that could be significant aren’t sufficiently explored or given enough space to breathe before the novel races on to the next thing.
A debut novel with bright spots, but unbalanced and lacking in finesse.Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9780593723739
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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