A subtle study of relationships that values character over plot.
Grei examines the delicate tensions of friendship, trust, and unspoken obligations through the story of a 30-something man and his tightknit social circle after he returns to his Iowa hometown.
Frankie is back living at home on the farm outside Des Moines where he grew up; his mother suddenly abandoned his father, Clayton, months ago, after 39 years of marriage, and left for points unknown (“He loved his wife, but her absence was as much a part of her as her presence ever was”). Frankie’s sister, Jules, had come back home briefly, as well, but she soon returned to her husband, Damon, and their daughter in the nearby city. Frankie tried to go back to his life with his partner, Shane, but wound up back on the farm after discovering Shane cheating on him. Overall, the novel unfolds mainly through measured interactions, domestic rituals, and reflective interiority, offering a texture of emotions rather than a conventional narrative momentum. From the earliest chapters, Frankie’s struggles with intimacy and relational accountability are set against a world of subtle social hierarchies. Small gestures—Jules’ obsessive washing of dishes by hand, Damon’s reflective pauses—carry disproportionate weight, focusing on desire, regret, and moral ambiguity. Social gatherings, professional encounters, and interpersonal provocations, as when Jules’ ex-boyfriend re-enters her life early on, serve less as plot drivers than as instruments of observation, exposing character arcs and illuminating relational power dynamics. Grei’s prose is precise, deliberate, and attentive to rhythm and mood. Moments of tension, confrontation, or tenderness emerge naturally through dialogue, interior reflection, and gesture, producing a sense of latent energy beneath the novel’s composed surface. At times, this focus on texture and interiority slows the pace, and conflicts—particularly involving Frankie and Hugo, a new man in Frankie’s life—occasionally echo rather than escalate. Still, the novel succeeds as both a character study and an aesthetic exercise: careful, observant, and quietly precise.
A subtle study of relationships that values character over plot.Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781965629000
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Kingbird Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
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
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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