A family oriented tale that's heartfelt and funny, by turns.
In Boerner’s novel, an older man and a child become friends during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.
Theo Gruene is a retired botanist who lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and does volunteer work for the University of Arkansas. His idea of a perfect day is one he spends gluing plant specimens, such as a 1930s columbine, onto mounting paper. He loves order and solitude, but he’s still grieving the death of his beloved wife, Annie, 20 years before. Theo’s life is thrown into upheaval with the sudden arrival on his doorstep of an 8-1/2-year-old girl in a green raincoat that’s too big for her. Penelope Pie Palmer just missed her school bus and forgot her house key, so she asks if she can stay in his house until the current rainstorm passes and her mom returns home in a few hours. He initially sees the girl as a nuisance, but their interactions slowly cause Theo to venture out of his self-contained world. He adopts a stray dog; meets Penelope’s determined single mom, Ivy; and discovers good qualities about Nita Johnson, a neighbor whom he formerly considered a nosy gossip. However, difficulties arise when the Covid-19 pandemic shuts down Penelope’s school and Theo reluctantly tutors her so that her mom, a nurse’s aide, can still work. Then Ivy lands in the intensive-care unit, requiring a ventilator. After Theo temporarily accepts responsibility for Penelope’s welfare, new information about the girl, her mom, and Theo comes to light. Boerner’s story revolves around a likable cast: Theo, at first a self-centered hermit, becomes a caring member of society, upset about injustice. Ivy takes responsibility for a bad choice, and Nita wins over Theo by remaining herself. However, bright, chatty Penelope is the book’s star, providing abundant humor (such as calling her raincoat a “protectability cloak”), as well as emotional depth—accepting Theo, and others, despite their many flaws. The northwest Arkansas setting, with lovingly described wilderness areas, such as Devil’s Den and Yellow Rock Trail, enhances the story’s messages about grounding one’s life in the natural world and practicing simple values.
A family oriented tale that's heartfelt and funny, by turns.Pub Date: May 20, 2025
ISBN: 9781951418106
Page Count: 308
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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