A richly detailed but uneven tale about the marriage of a psychologist and a psychiatrist.
A novel focuses on the strained relationship of two California psychotherapists.
Lingen centers his tale on psychologist Petter Lyngen and his wife, psychiatrist Thea Elden. The author, a licensed clinical psychologist, shows how they navigate not only the turmoil of their own marriage, but also the demands of their separate practices and all of the patients they interact with every day. Petter and Thea live in a condo in San Francisco’s Marina district and have been in couples therapy for a whole range of problems between them, including Petter’s buried resentment that Thea makes more money than he does and is better educated (she went to Stanford; he attended California State). Despite these and other issues, the couple seem reasonably happy at the start of the story, bantering, showering together, and enjoying long bike rides. Through them and their patients, Lingen is able to dramatize a wide variety of psychological complaints as well as the office politics and inner workings of psych departments and treating hospitals. Readers also get an extensive guided tour of the psychological backgrounds and key developmental issues faced by both Petter and Thea, including a shared history of parental abuse. This material helps ground them in the imagination as they face an array of people with psychological troubles as well as their own complicated feelings for each other
These glimpses into the professional world of psychotherapy are related with the detail and confidence that only an insider could provide. Lingen imbues some of his professional and interpersonal scenes with a very dry sense of humor, a tone that extends to the book’s abundant sexually explicit content. But the potential for a great psychology novel is blunted by several narrative flaws, starting with the work’s self-indulgent length (595 pages). Petter and Thea are seldom rendered as actual human beings; too often they’re depicted as stereotypes, calling each other “my love” while lounging in their condo living room reading their professional journals. Thea employs her “brilliant medically analytic mind” and reels off stiff exposition like “Ketamine enhances domaminergic neurotransmission to NMDA receptor sites in both the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex.” At one point, she asserts to her husband: “As you are always saying, Petter…you can’t secure a hook inside someone’s chest unless there is something in there upon which you can secure the hook.” This decision to portray Petter and particularly Thea as vamping, hyperintellectual androids—him a passive-aggressive snob and her a controlling bully—undercuts the effectiveness of the story in humanizing the world of professional psychology. Likewise, the author’s choice to have characters lapse almost at random into all-caps profanity almost always seems forced and artificial, further driving a wedge between the players and the audience’s empathy. The characters are forever dissecting their motivations for doing the things they do, but the narrative seldom gives readers reasons to care about those actions.
A richly detailed but uneven tale about the marriage of a psychologist and a psychiatrist.Pub Date: May 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-09-830131-6
Page Count: 608
Publisher: BookBaby
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2020
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
SEEN & HEARD
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.
A travel writer has one last shot at reconnecting with the best friend she just might be in love with.
Poppy and Alex couldn't be more different. She loves wearing bright colors while he prefers khakis and a T-shirt. She likes just about everything while he’s a bit more discerning. And yet, their opposites-attract friendship works because they love each other…in a totally platonic way. Probably. Even though they have their own separate lives (Poppy lives in New York City and is a travel writer with a popular Instagram account; Alex is a high school teacher in their tiny Ohio hometown), they still manage to get together each summer for one fabulous vacation. They grow closer every year, but Poppy doesn’t let herself linger on her feelings for Alex—she doesn’t want to ruin their friendship or the way she can be fully herself with him. They continue to date other people, even bringing their serious partners on their summer vacations…but then, after a falling-out, they stop speaking. When Poppy finds herself facing a serious bout of ennui, unhappy with her glamorous job and the life she’s been dreaming of forever, she thinks back to the last time she was truly happy: her last vacation with Alex. And so, though they haven’t spoken in two years, she asks him to take another vacation with her. She’s determined to bridge the gap that’s formed between them and become best friends again, but to do that, she’ll have to be honest with Alex—and herself—about her true feelings. In chapters that jump around in time, Henry shows readers the progression (and dissolution) of Poppy and Alex’s friendship. Their slow-burn love story hits on beloved romance tropes (such as there unexpectedly being only one bed on the reconciliation trip Poppy plans) while still feeling entirely fresh. Henry’s biggest strength is in the sparkling, often laugh-out-loud-funny dialogue, particularly the banter-filled conversations between Poppy and Alex. But there’s depth to the story, too—Poppy’s feeling of dissatisfaction with a life that should be making her happy as well as her unresolved feelings toward the difficult parts of her childhood make her a sympathetic and relatable character. The end result is a story that pays homage to classic romantic comedies while having a point of view all its own.
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0675-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
© Copyright 2026 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.
