A funny and thought-provoking supernatural tale with a memorable protagonist.
In this novel, a woman who speaks to angels finds herself trapped in a corporate cult.
Massage therapist Marigold Sunshine Whitaker can talk to angels. All mortals have angels, she claims—looking after them, keeping them out of trouble—but most people don’t realize it. “Let’s be real clear, though: Angels are not like these cute little baby butts flying around,” Marigold explains. “They are fierce. Like, they do not play around. And you do not want to make fun of an Angel or piss it off. Trust me.” Marigold blames her angels for landing her in prison, her punishment for assaulting a prominent local real estate agent after he tried to force her to give him a massage of a different sort. (Marigold claims the angels possessed her during the assault and then again when she threatened the judge during her trial.) When a lucky break gets her out of jail early, Marigold takes a job at the Denver Airport, hoping to save enough money to move to Ibiza. By an immense stroke of luck—or some targeted manifesting—Marigold meets and impresses Krish McKinley, the founder and CEO of the lifestyle brand Wolf&Bees. Krish invites Marigold to become his personal assistant, and it seems like a dream come true—at first. But it soon becomes clear that Krish’s company is more than a little cultlike, and even Marigold’s angels might not be influential enough to get her out of it. Clarke’s prose is sharp and funny, as here where Marigold admits the blind spots of her angelic protectors: “Angels don’t always understand everything down here on Earth. As powerful as Uriel is, he simply does not grasp the nuance of workplace dynamics or paying bills or even why you would want to heat up your Lean Cuisine in a microwave.” Marigold is a wonderfully realized creation, managing to remain sympathetic even at her most shocking and irrational moments. The book succeeds in satirizing various woo-woo aspects of modern society while inviting readers to seriously consider how and why they construct their personal belief systems.
A funny and thought-provoking supernatural tale with a memorable protagonist.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-08-802133-0
Page Count: 469
Publisher: Middle Finger Press
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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
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