An intriguing but uneven tale of obsession.
In this novel, an affair prompts a woman to look back on her life.
As McDonald’s story opens, middle-aged food writer and nutritionist Kat McNeil is living with her dog, Q, in a trailer in the Florida Keys. She’s in the process of ending her marriage of over 30 years, and she’s feeling aimless and unloved. She spots trailer-park neighbor Sal diving in the ocean, and the two tentatively begin getting to know each other. After showing readers glimpses of Sal—and Kat’s obsession with him—the tale takes a lengthy detour into a flashback, telling the story of the protagonist’s life from her childhood in the 1950s as one of five children in a suburban Roman Catholic family. Kat herself is the narrator of her past, and through her point of view, readers learn about the beatings she suffered at her father’s hands and her mother’s seemingly harsh indifference. “At seventeen,” Kat confesses, “I couldn’t care less about going to college. What I want is The Boy, the dream, a loving family.” The tale skillfully moves on to Kat’s own later married life—the brusque, uncaring husband; the daughter who seeks therapy as soon as she can—and to the adult lives of her kin, including her beloved doctor brother, Joey, who dies of an overdose. The story also deftly discloses the family’s discovery that Kat’s father was a lifelong, secret alcoholic and explores her own burgeoning life as a writer. It’s only after a hundred pages of this intriguing tale that the narrative returns to the story of Kat and Sal. Unfortunately, readers will find it difficult to remain interested in present-day, sad-sack Kat. She’s a morose complainer and a lightning rod for bad or pathetic luck. She gets sick from a tick bite; she puts a wet suit on backward; and everything is always her fault. By the time a deeply disturbing secret about Sal is revealed, some readers may be put off by the melodrama.
An intriguing but uneven tale of obsession.Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-94-911675-5
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Woodhall Press
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
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
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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