An impressive work of historical fiction that satisfyingly educates, illuminates, and entertains.
In this novel, a close-knit Irish family deals with a blend of personal struggles and politics.
Set in the Irish coastal seaport of Mullaghmore, Sligo, in the late 1970s, Shaw’s engrossing tale follows Terence Connolly; his wife, Bridget; and their teenage son, Tim, who collectively operate a multigenerational, rustic sheep farm. Terence has “mastered all the essential skills of the Sligo farmer: building trampcocks, slicing turf, raising sheep and cattle, sea gathering, weaving fish nets, and fishing.” As father and son work the fields in the shadow of nearby Classiebawn castle, a tragic event shatters the peace and tranquility of the community. A fishing boat owned by the castle’s occupant, Lord Earl Mountbatten, Queen Victoria’s great-grandson, is suddenly blown apart, killing the royal dignitary and several of his relatives, including his young grandson. The culprits reveal themselves as members of the Irish Republican Army who had murdered 18 British soldiers just hours before in opposition to encroaching British rule. Years later, as Terence travels with his aged father, Brian, a decorated war veteran, they become the target of British soldiers who question their allegiances, and they end up jailed and abused in Maze Prison in 1982. Tim is soon sent to America to stay with his aunt Mary in New York City, and it is there where his true coming-of-age begins. Though his new classmates at school are vicious and hostile, Tim overcomes that by distinguishing himself on the track team and outrunning all of his competitors. He also finds true love with aspiring athlete Gina Carbone. Based on historical events, Shaw’s novel presents an absorbing and unique narrative that explores familial struggles against a backdrop of violent political unrest. The author’s prose is delicate and descriptive, and the story is leisurely paced and appealingly atmospheric, with sharply drawn characters readers will remember. At one point, an emboldened Bridget tries to intervene on behalf of her husband’s incarceration with the help of her friend Maeve Grogan—a fearless liberator and feminist—despite a hunger strike by Terence and a revenge ambush on the Mullaghmore farm.
An impressive work of historical fiction that satisfyingly educates, illuminates, and entertains.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 283
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2022
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
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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