Murdoch proves he’s as good a novelist as he is a musician.
A young Scottish man waits for the moment to come when his composure returns.
“I’m just nervous,” says Stephen, the narrator of singer-songwriter Murdoch’s debut novel. “I’m nervous when I wake up and nervous when I go to bed.” Stephen, 23, is plagued with anxiety, but that’s not all—he’s also navigating the end of a romantic relationship, and, for the past three years, has been laid low by myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: “Imagine having the first day of a cold or the flu every day of your life. Feeling sick and weak and…poisoned every day. It’s what that does to you. It’s the days and the years. It fucks everything up.” He spends his days in Glasgow listening to his beloved music, or hanging out with his friend Carrie and flatmate, Richard, both of whom also struggle with ME/CFS. After appointments with doctors prove fruitless, Stephen and Richard decide to take a three-month trip to California, hoping the sun and American medical science will improve the state they’re in. The pair make the most of their Golden State adventure, playing music, making friends, and eventually realizing that while ill, they’re still capable of doing things they love. Not much happens in this novel—as Stephen says, “This is not a heavenly story, this is a slow human story, where people keep trundling along, jostled and occasionally pricked by circumstances and tripped up by their feelings.” But that’s what makes it so accomplished. Murdoch drills down deep into the character of Stephen while not neglecting the others; he clearly sympathizes with a young man with a horrible disease that not long ago was derided as “the yuppie flu,” its sufferers gaslit when they sought treatment. (To be clear, this, unfortunately, still happens.) Fans of Murdoch’s band, Belle and Sebastian, will appreciate a few Easter eggs that the author includes (ever wonder how Sukie ended up in that art school?), but you don’t have to be an indie-pop fan to appreciate this compassionate, sweet, beautifully written novel.
Murdoch proves he’s as good a novelist as he is a musician.Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780063383456
Page Count: 432
Publisher: HarperVia
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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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