A thoughtful, zany rendition of small-town life.
A comical, character-driven novel focuses on a Nebraska town.
Delphic Oracle, Nebraska, used to be called Miagrammesto Station. That changed when a con man named July Pennybaker came to town in the 1920s. At the age of 27, July had already seen a lot in life. After he stole money from the Mafia in Chicago, he fled to Nebraska, where he was discovered by a lovely young woman named Maggie Westinghouse. Although Maggie was suspicious of this apparent vagabond who managed to talk like a “college professor,” the two ultimately formed a couple. With the help of one of July’s friends who posed as a faith healer, Maggie became the Delphic Oracle. People traveled from miles around just to see her. July realized that despite Maggie’s toughness, grifting was just not in her nature. The two fell in love; yet, under such circumstances, could it last? The narrative skips back and forth to modern times when the town of Delphic Oracle is a hub of activity. While sometimes the action is on the baseball field, several folks embark on spiritual quests. The narrator tells it all from an oddly lenient correctional facility. Although events and characters lend themselves to the fantastical (a man who teaches poetry is named Byron Emerson), Mayfield’s story is full of heart. Some occurrences, such as a man getting his arm stuck while attempting to change the battery in his truck, may feel like a stretch. Yet readers will manage to empathize with this man as he stands there at one point dreaming that he can fly, soaring “into an azure sky.” Other scenes can overdo the rural hokeyness. Someone at a local baseball game constantly chanting “Hey battuh, hey battuh, hey battuh” and “Swing battuh” is no more humorous than it sounds. Nevertheless, this place where one woman holds “respect for God and Ouija boards roughly equivalent” becomes engaging in its own quirky way.
A thoughtful, zany rendition of small-town life.Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64603-292-1
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Regal House Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2022
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
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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