An eventful and emotionally intense family saga.
In Reyes’ novel, a mother's death and a father’s end-of-life care brews bitterness in a dysfunctional family.
Sophie Malinsky’s death, due to a malignant brain tumor, has life-altering consequences for her four daughters—10-year-old Betti, 14-year-old Marla, and their older sisters Naomi and Rose. Each sibling deals with it differently. Rose can’t bear the sight of happy people, so she prefers to stay indoors and pull the curtains over the window in their living room; Naomi and Marla begin to shoplift in the absence of parental supervision; and Betti imagines herself to be a bird who can fly. Their father, Max, seeks companionship with a girlfriend who’s just 10 years older than Rose. Reyes shows, with skill and sensitivity, what coping mechanisms can look like when one’s world falls apart and one must face a new reality. Her description of Rose’s response to grief is particularly moving: “When she had to go out, she didn’t notice the blue of the sky, or feel the warmth of the sun, or smell the chrysanthemums lining her front walk. She just wanted the day to end, to get out of other people’s sunshine.” The effects of this traumatic childhood event continue into their adult lives: They treat each other harshly, and simmering tensions reach a peak when they disagree about Max’s medical care after he shows signs of cognitive decline.
Reyes prepares readers for this dynamic with some explicit foreshadowing on the dedication page with a quote from feminist psychologist Phyllis Chesler: “If one is hurt or offended by another woman, one does not say so outright; one expresses it indirectly, by turning others against her.” Marla takes on this role frequently to spite Rose—for instance, by turning Rose’s daughter, Natalie, against her, and by inviting Rose’s ex-husband, Hector, to Thanksgiving. Marla refuses to listen to Rose’s thoughts regarding their father’s care because it threatens her ego. It’s heartbreaking to see Rose weather this undeserved backlash, when all she’s trying to do is help her dad, who was stern with her when she was a child. Overall, the author paints a terrifying portrait of how cruel people can be toward siblings, parents, and children, as when Marla is shown to be judgmental about her sisters. For instance, she thinks that Naomi, a poet, “ought to be out looking for a decent job instead of writing more embarrassing drivel that will never be published.” The author also writes about questions of identity and ethnicity in nuanced and thought-provoking ways. Naomi, for instance, changes her name to Noemí after moving from Milwaukee to Guanajuato, Mexico. Rose, whose children have Puerto Rican ancestry, wonders whether her sister is guilty of cultural appropriation or if she simply dislikes her Jewish heritage; Naomi says, “The past is just a big ugly blot I’d like to forget.” The past, of course, can’t be ignored; Sophie reveals, earlier in the novel, that all families have secrets, and the Malinskys are no exception.
An eventful and emotionally intense family saga.Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9798218641436
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Lake Grove Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 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
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.
With only a month left until the world ends due to a swiftly approaching black hole, Don and Rodney, a retired gay couple, road-trip from Maine to Washington to spend their final days with their son.
After reports that a planet-swallowing black hole is making its way toward Earth, Rodney and Don—who have been together for 40 years and survived everything from homophobia to the HIV crisis—decide to pack their belongings into an RV, say goodbye to their neighbors, and travel from Camden, Maine, to Washington to uphold a promise to spend their final days with their son. They can’t wait any longer, since there’s already chaos around the country: “Military vehicles in the streets of most cities and towns. Looting, rioting, the burning of cars and buildings and people, all of it had already happened.” As they make their way west across the country, they encounter fellow travelers ranging from close-knit families to free-spirited hippies, some of whom have come to terms with the impending end of the world and others who haven’t. While the story seems to be asking readers what they would do if they had 30 days left to live, and reflects on what different kinds of acceptance might look like in the face of unavoidable tragedy, it loses some of its poignancy in a series of thinly padded monologues about the meaning of life. Clearly intended to pack an emotional punch, it’s failed by an abrupt ending, and the way the journey’s mystery—which will be obvious to many readers—is revealed by an info dump in the last chapter.
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781250881236
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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