A chilling examination of the repercussions of violence.
A taut Korean novel examines the aftershocks of murder.
Kwon's first novel to be translated into English begins in 2002 with the death of 18-year-old Kim Hae-on, preternaturally beautiful but not universally admired. At first, the police suspect both inarticulate delivery boy Han Manu, who seems to know too much about Hae-on's last day, and smooth, wealthy fellow student Shin Jeongjun, who gave her a ride in his car the night before she was found bludgeoned to death in a flower bed. Both, however, have alibis. The case remains unsolved as years go by, and the lives of the two men are shaped by the suspicions that have arisen around them. Kwon, meanwhile, switches her attention to three young women. Hae-on's younger sister, Da-on, described as “short and dumpy,” falls into a depression and undergoes a series of plastic surgeries, “turning my own face into a crude patchwork of her features.” Yun Taerum, whose “crimson lips and almond-shaped eyes” made her the second-most-beautiful girl in Hae-on's class, falls apart, as evidenced by a series of one-sided conversations with a telephone counseling service. Sanghui, a transfer student who only knew Hae-on for a few months, is fascinated by the murder but not so personally involved. Kwon's brief, fierce novel takes daring leaps through time, landing on the disturbed consciousness of one character or another and leaving the reader to fill in the gaps of the narrative. While the murderer is never explicitly revealed, most readers will have no problem making an educated guess. Kwon is less concerned with assigning blame than with taking a detached view of the psychological stresses experienced by her characters.
A chilling examination of the repercussions of violence.Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-63542-088-3
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Other Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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