Reich comically airs out many grievances.
Sacred cows of all sorts are skewered by Reich in a broad satire of contemporary mores.
Gershon Gordon, a “world famous literary powerhouse and public intellectual,” is a resident at Camp Jeff, a reeducation center for those who have found themselves implicated by the #MeToo movement—or caught in the hashtag, as Reich wryly puts it. The camp is named after its benefactor, the “good” Jeffrey Epstein, a cosmetics tycoon who refuses to let his name be ruined by the infamous bearer of the same name. Gershon’s own name is a refinement of his given name, George Gordon, also the name of Lord Byron as well as a Protestant who led riots against Catholics mentioned in Dickens. Slippery nomenclature is just one of many verbal sleights of hand Reich plays in her densely packed narrative of Gershon’s attempts to game the systems at Camp Jeff for his own purposes. The primary therapeutic method at Camp Jeff is Zoyaroyan Psychoempathy—named after one of at least three Zoyas playing a part in the novel—which allows Reich to take aim not only at sexual predators but at purveyors of sketchy self-help models. As the madcap plot unfolds, Reich explores themes of antisemitism, Jewish culture in America, and misogyny. At several points along the way to the novel’s apocalyptic resolution, she takes a deep dive into Talmudic studies, too. With the book taking place just before and during the earliest days of the Covid-19 pandemic, the mass hysteria and uncertainty surrounding that disruption comports nicely with the general tone of upheaval as old rules give way to the new. Stereotypes of many sorts—the stern nurse, the mousy female academic, the pederest priest—are present in the cast of characters Reich uses to make her point.
Reich comically airs out many grievances.Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781644214213
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Seven Stories
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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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