A comedy of errors that gets it just right.
A young woman comes into her own amid the chaos of the literary workplace and the mysteries of the LSAT.
Coll enthusiasts will remember sweet Clemi, a clerk in the Washington, D.C., bookstore that’s the setting for Bookish People (2022). The daughter of a powerful literary agent and a famous alcoholic poet whom she met for the first time in that earlier book, 26-year-old Clemi is still trying to figure out her future, having left the bookstore and taken a job at an organization that’s had to change its name to “WLNP: Washington Literary Nonprofit” due to scandals in its past. Her first week at work is so unsettling—her boss disappears; the office is ransacked; a huge cat shows up; the annual prize banquet is days away and the caterer has not been paid, because, uh-oh, the organization’s bank accounts have just been emptied—that she stops by the bookstore to pick up a study guide for the LSAT. A logical reasoning question about clowns spirals into a classic Coll subplot, with clowns turning up around every corner. Like Bookish People, the novel sparkles with kooky details plucked from literary culture. Coll’s naming of characters and titling of their books is a schtick that never gets old, nor does a gleeful running joke about a man who looks exactly like Malcolm Gladwell. Will there be a lost car-key subplot? Of course there will. At the heart of the hijinks is dear, self-effacing Clemi, who keeps getting mistaken for somebody’s nanny, most currently the 8-year-old genius son of this year’s prizewinner. Though the boy is notorious for having caused $52,000 worth of damage at the Hôtel du Cap in Antibes, he will prove to be another example of Coll’s ability to find redemptive qualities in even the most obnoxious characters—a key gift for this chronicler of the egomania, foolishness, and undimmed aspirations of the modern literati.
A comedy of errors that gets it just right.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781400346653
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Harper Muse
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
