A slow burn of a psychological thriller wrapped up in mysterious ambiguity.
Grief complicates everything for the protagonist of this psychological thriller.
Tess, still wracked with grief over the recent unsolved murder of her sister, Rosie, moves into Rosie’s apartment and starts renting her sister's old room for short-term stays when she realizes she’ll need help paying the mortgage. As Tess becomes more isolated from the people and activities of her old life, she develops an increasing compulsion to snoop through her guests’ possessions. The arrival of Arran, an enigmatic (and nice-looking) longer-term boarder, adds fuel to the already raging fire of Tess’ jumbled emotions and thoughts about Rosie’s death. Stymied in her efforts to find out who killed Rosie and why, Tess continues her risky nighttime solo forays into parks in order to root out predators as well as her closer-to-home explorations of duffel bags and backpacks in the guest room. Tess’ discovery of Arran’s diary—which contains entries that might signal an obsession with Tess herself—leads her to follow Arran (and others) all over London in a series of surveillance missions driven more by passion than reason. Tess’ desperation to achieve some sort of understanding of the circumstances of Rosie’s death drives her to suspect more than one character (while failing to consider some others). Sylva skillfully illustrates an unmoored character completely consumed by a spiraling, unrelenting grief in a setting where others continue their lives as usual. Moody and proceeding at a measured pace, Tess’ narrative slowly unfolds toward a cinematic resolution. Interspersed with passages from Arran’s diary entries as well as anonymous text of a more ominous nature, Tess’ story elucidates the fog of grief as well as the tendency of the human heart to see what it wants to see.
A slow burn of a psychological thriller wrapped up in mysterious ambiguity.Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781250863959
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
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
SEEN & HEARD
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.
A French art historian’s English-language fiction debut combines the story of a loving relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter with an enlightening discussion of art.
One day, when 10-year-old Mona removes the necklace given to her by her now-dead grandmother, she experiences a frightening, hour-long bout of blindness. Her parents take her to the doctor, who gives her a variety of tests and also advises that she see a psychiatrist. Her grandfather Henry tells her parents that he will take care of that assignment, but instead, he takes Mona on weekly visits to either the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, or the Centre Pompidou, where each week they study a single work of art, gazing at it deeply and then discussing its impact and history and the biography of its maker. For the reader’s benefit, Schlesser also describes each of the works in scrupulous detail. As the year goes on, Mona faces the usual challenges of elementary school life and the experiences of being an only child, and slowly begins to understand the causes of her temporary blindness. Primarily an amble through a few dozen of Schlesser’s favorite works of art—some well known and others less so, from Botticelli and da Vinci through Basquiat and Bourgeois—the novel would probably benefit from being read at a leisurely pace. While the dialogue between Henry and the preternaturally patient and precocious Mona sometimes strains credulity, readers who don’t have easy access to the museums of Paris may enjoy this vicarious trip in the company of a guide who focuses equally on that which can be seen and the context that can’t be. Come for the novel, stay for the introductory art history course.
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798889661115
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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