A touching tale that balances love, loss, and family drama.
Secrecy and deep sorrow complicate new beginnings in Kamata’s novel, told through the eyes of three women.
In 2021, Olivia Hamada, a newly unemployed American living in Japan, is grieving the loss of her brother, Ted, and hiding her divorce from everyone—including the 18-year-old twins whom she had with her Japanese ex-husband. It’s been more than a year since Ted’s unexpected death and pandemic travel restrictions have lifted, allowing Olivia, a former English-language writing instructor, and her children to travel to the United States to spread the last of Ted’s ashes and spend the summer with his widow, Parisa Hubbard, at her idyllic South Carolina beach house. Parisa, a successful fashion designer whose creations are inspired by her South Asian heritage, is ready to embrace a fresh chapter, but, fearing that she’ll upset Ted’s family, she keeps her big plans to herself. Lastly, readers meet Sophie, Olivia’s deaf daughter, who attends a specialized high school with only 12 students and is craving new experiences. Her wish is granted when she meets the eye-catching Dante, sparking a sweet, summer romance. Sophie vows to keep the relationship hidden, but this proves to be surprisingly difficult. When Olivia has a run-in with Devon Richards, a now-famous country singer from her past, she’s unable to resist their sizzling mutual attraction, which they must keep secret. At times, Kamata’s novel leans too heavily on backstory. However, the short chapters dedicated to each character, and tender moments interspersed with messy, rom-com-worthy entanglements, will keep readers intrigued. Lush images of sand and surf offer a breezy escape from tougher emotional scenes: “Farther up the beach, beyond the waving grass, people were gathering on decks and porches, firing up their grills, popping open bottles of beer, hanging their wet towels over railings.” References to Japanese and Indian traditions also enrich the pages. Kamata delicately weaves heartbreak with humor throughout the story, and authentically captures the complex inner lives of women at various stages navigating wildly different obstacles.
A touching tale that balances love, loss, and family drama.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2024
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
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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