Paisley’s tales shine when they take a sensitive approach to psychological horror, but readers may find that some scenes...
Age-old acts of violence are monstrously reimagined in a transgressive set of stories that aims to haunt its readers.
Paisley’s collection is a short, sharp shock, coming in at just under 200 pages in length. It’s carved into three sections, each containing three stories, followed by one standalone novella. The sections—“Divine,” “In,” and “Essence”—have a central theme, examined in wicked ways. The prologue, “Abandon All Ye Who Enter,” primes the reader for the horrors ahead, which feature worlds that live in the “sensorium” and “imaginarium.” The former is “contemptuous of time,” and the physical and emotional pain that the characters endure is immediate and ongoing—and reactivated once read. The latter “entangles time.” These warnings act as a theme for the collection: “Suffering transmutes to ecstasy.” The first section, “Divine,” examines the paths and outcomes of familial violence, best exemplified by “The Great Event,” which acts as a twisted creation story, drawing from ancient Greek mythology into a dubiously spiritual present. “In” examines the relationship between the living and the dead and features a standout story, “The Metaphor of the Lakes,” in which a ghostly Gracie diarizes her small world with creativity and heart toward a devastating conclusion. Finally, “Essence” examines the overlap of violence and pleasure and a longing for freedom. “Mary Alice in the Mirror” is a highlight, with one of the collection’s arguably brighter endings, telling a tale of two children trying to liberate a woman trapped behind glass. The final novella, “The Life of Cherry,” charts mythic maternal violence in an attempt to converge various themes that previous stories raise.
Over the course of this collection, Paisley’s heightened, lyrical prose and occult-ish imagery strengthen the tales’ self-contained worlds; they are especially successful in works that have a strong emotional core. “In” contains the strongest stories in the book, innovatively exploring the limitations between the living and the dead. One of its tales, “Nancy & Her Man,” in which a woman visits a long-deceased companion to treat him to an annual day out, will linger with readers long after it’s over. “Fever Visions” is an equally haunting work in which a child experiences her mother’s sickness in Blakean detail: “I saw a great many human bodies that were misformed and bent into hideous…shapes, and they were operating strange, ancient-looking machines.” The aforementioned “The Metaphor of the Lakes” employs notably vivid prose as its protagonist discovers her fate: “As soon as my feet touched beyond the threshold, I found myself, along with my brother, in a vast wintry field, its snowy expanses so blindingly white that they were actually a kind of blue.” However, although several of the stories here strive to balance the elevated supernatural ideas introduced in the prologue, they also get bogged down by their accounts of the baser impulses of humanity, which the author paints in broad, violent strokes that may turn the stomachs of even the most seasoned readers of the horror genre.
Paisley’s tales shine when they take a sensitive approach to psychological horror, but readers may find that some scenes feel excessive.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781952600555
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Whiskey Tit
Review Posted Online: Jan. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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 warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.
A travel writer has one last shot at reconnecting with the best friend she just might be in love with.
Poppy and Alex couldn't be more different. She loves wearing bright colors while he prefers khakis and a T-shirt. She likes just about everything while he’s a bit more discerning. And yet, their opposites-attract friendship works because they love each other…in a totally platonic way. Probably. Even though they have their own separate lives (Poppy lives in New York City and is a travel writer with a popular Instagram account; Alex is a high school teacher in their tiny Ohio hometown), they still manage to get together each summer for one fabulous vacation. They grow closer every year, but Poppy doesn’t let herself linger on her feelings for Alex—she doesn’t want to ruin their friendship or the way she can be fully herself with him. They continue to date other people, even bringing their serious partners on their summer vacations…but then, after a falling-out, they stop speaking. When Poppy finds herself facing a serious bout of ennui, unhappy with her glamorous job and the life she’s been dreaming of forever, she thinks back to the last time she was truly happy: her last vacation with Alex. And so, though they haven’t spoken in two years, she asks him to take another vacation with her. She’s determined to bridge the gap that’s formed between them and become best friends again, but to do that, she’ll have to be honest with Alex—and herself—about her true feelings. In chapters that jump around in time, Henry shows readers the progression (and dissolution) of Poppy and Alex’s friendship. Their slow-burn love story hits on beloved romance tropes (such as there unexpectedly being only one bed on the reconciliation trip Poppy plans) while still feeling entirely fresh. Henry’s biggest strength is in the sparkling, often laugh-out-loud-funny dialogue, particularly the banter-filled conversations between Poppy and Alex. But there’s depth to the story, too—Poppy’s feeling of dissatisfaction with a life that should be making her happy as well as her unresolved feelings toward the difficult parts of her childhood make her a sympathetic and relatable character. The end result is a story that pays homage to classic romantic comedies while having a point of view all its own.
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0675-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
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