Though there’s lots of talk about feelings, van de Sandt has written a polemic on sexual politics disguised as a novel.
In this debut novel, a young Dutch woman slowly comes to grips with the events surrounding a London dinner party that ended badly, as well as earlier emotional crises that have shaped her.
Van de Sandt sets most of the action in Utrecht and London although Franca narrates her story from Berlin, where her ever-patient therapist, Stella, helps her remember both the party and previous traumas in fractured recollections. Taking the form of a letter Stella suggested Franca write, Franca’s narrative drifts among various unresolved issues: Franca’s unclear memory of what she did or didn’t do with a knife after the party; her problematic relationship with her boyfriend, British tech entrepreneur Andrew, especially an interaction while she was preparing dinner that may or may not have been sexual assault; Franca’s wealthy father’s death when she was 12 and her mother’s apparent detachment; Franca’s intense platonic friendship with fellow comparative literature student Harry that ended badly shortly before Harry left Utrecht for Cambridge. While readers may find themselves analyzing Franca through the fuzzy but evocative memories of her unhappy if privileged life, the book ultimately feels less like a psychological case study than an argument proposing that woman are always victimized by badly behaving men. Franca points toward statistics showing that sexual assault by men is the norm, and van de Sandt’s straight male characters—even those, like Franca’s father, displaying good intentions—have negative effects on the women who love them. Women lovers are much kinder to each other. The one gay man, Gerald, is merely pathetic. Hard on Gerald’s literary pretensions, van de Sandt is not shy about flashing Franca’s intellectual credentials or quoting highbrows like Martha Nussbaum. Despite the author’s elegant, sometimes insightful prose, Franca’s never-ending victimhood and the constant hints about revelations to come become tiresome. The novel’s saving bright spot is Franca’s mother, a complex and affecting surprise.
Though there’s lots of talk about feelings, van de Sandt has written a polemic on sexual politics disguised as a novel.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780316593847
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
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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