A remarkably beautiful story of the agony of loss and injustice.
Yun-Yun’s novel, based on true events, tells the story of a boat accident, as seen through the eyes of one victim’s sibling.
On April 16, 2014, the ferry MV Sewol capsized off the coast of South Korea, resulting in the deaths of more than 300 passengers, including 250 students and 11 teachers on a high school field trip. False reports that the passengers and crew had been rescued, and the lateness of the South Korean coast guard’s rescue efforts, led to a national outcry. This real-life tragedy is the backdrop for this novel, in which 24-year-old Park Yun-young reels from the loss of her 29-year-old sister, Mi-na, whom she calls Unnie (“older sister” in Korean), a teacher who died aboard the Sewol. The story begins with Yun-young retracing the steps that Unnie took in life—revisiting the school she attended, her dormitory, and the cubicle where she tirelessly studied to pass the national exam required to become an educator. At each stop, Yun-young crosses paths with people who knew her sister or who also had a loved one on the Sewol. Shifting back and forth between the present day and memories of Unnie, the narration has a dreamlike quality that heightens its sense of bittersweet nostalgia. Along the way, the author slowly reveals the timeline of events immediately prior to, during, and after the disaster. In one notable scene, months after the ferry’s sinking, Unnie’s suitcase is recovered from the muddy waters, and Yun-young and her family gather in their living room to open it and sift through its contents. Lifting the silt-soaked clothes out, piece by piece, Yun-young’s mother runs to fill a basin with water and stomps the mud out of Mi-na’s possessions, as if to rinse the horror from her daughter’s memory: “Yun-young can hear Mom’s muffled screams as she yells for the dirt to get off, to get off Unnie. The water sloshes for a long time.” The poetic force of the prose enhances the interplay between the past and present, blending them into a familiar, nonlinear pattern of grief.
A remarkably beautiful story of the agony of loss and injustice.Pub Date: April 11, 2024
ISBN: 9791198565105
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Libre Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2024
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
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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