A moving work about the horrors of the Holocaust.
Maysonave and Goldman’s historical novel, based on a true story, offers an account of one woman’s determination to survive the Holocaust.
Although this is a work of fiction, its protagonist, Hinda Mondlak, was Goldman’s mother, and the suffering she endures in these pages is based on actual events in her life. Just before her death in 1985, she recorded recollections of her experiences, which Goldman kept. He was traumatized by her account of the abuses she suffered at the Auschwitz concentration camp in the 1940s, but he came to believe that her story must be told to others. At the heart of his mother’s narration was a promise made by her father, whom she called “Tatae,” that she would survive to bring her family’s tale to others: “You will live; you will tell,” he’d insisted, just before his execution. In fulfilling this promise, Maysonave and Goldman rely heavily on Mondlak’s testimony, but they employ the techniques of fiction to make her story more accessible to readers. The result is effective and often painful in its detail and emotional force. Many readers will admire Hinda’s devotion to her family and her determination to resist her Nazi captors as they attempt to dehumanize her. Her story effectively reflects the larger pattern of the Holocaust, which included the expulsion of Jewish people from communities in occupied Poland, as well as their ghettoization and imprisonment in labor and death camps. This fictionalized account helps readers to see the impact of these events in intimate, devastating ways. As the story shifts to Auschwitz, the authors not only provide searing accounts of systematic abuses and executions but also offer horrific glimpses into the minds and actions of Nazi officers such as Josef Mengele. At other points, readers see how bonds of love between prisoners gave them the will to live and sustained their hopes for liberation and justice. There’s also a remarkable love story at the heart of this novel—a relationship that will surprise and delight readers for its ability to withstand the most terrible of circumstances.
A moving work about the horrors of the Holocaust.Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2023
ISBN: 9781959096962
Page Count: 550
Publisher: DartFrog Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
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
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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