A realistic portrait of a complex romance between two mismatched but sympathetic characters.
A tempestuous love affair in 1990s Toronto.
Pugsley returns with the second in a projected series of five autobiographical novels (following Aubrey McKee, 2020) about the life and complicated loves of the titular Nova Scotia native. This entry follows its narrator, Aubrey, through the 1990s as he moves to Toronto to pursue a graduate degree in chemistry. There, he meets and falls in love with Gudrun Peel, an aspiring poet and candidate for an English Ph.D. Gudrun, an ardent feminist who thinks of herself as a “neurotic, hyperconscious girl” and feels like she’s only “pretending to be an adult,” struggles to complete her thesis and gain a foothold in the vibrant but unconventional Toronto art world. Aubrey, a “very young twentysomething” when the novel begins, and captivated as much by his lover’s eccentricities as he is by her striking beauty, strives with equal energy to penetrate the mystery of a life that’s been damaged by her abuse in the home of a “DEAD DRUNK DAD and BORN-AGAIN MOM.” But even as Aubrey believes he’s come to terms with the “emotional schizophrenia of our relations,” when Gudrun’s career takes a turn that propels her in an exciting creative direction, he finds himself ill-prepared to cope with his feelings of “respect, compassion, pride, lust, disgust, and wonder” for her in her new incarnation. Pugsley seasons this sometimes claustrophobic romance with the well-timed appearance of some colorful friends and ex-lovers. The novel is bracketed by, on the one end, a disposable short story describing an evening of partying involving Aubrey and a friend who once employed him as a writer on a short-lived sketch comedy series and, on the other, a compact three-act play that begins similarly but gradually deepens to reprise some of the novel’s themes. That minidrama brings this phase of Aubrey’s story to a close in a resonant, and mildly hopeful, fashion.
A realistic portrait of a complex romance between two mismatched but sympathetic characters.Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781771965835
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Biblioasis
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.
With only a month left until the world ends due to a swiftly approaching black hole, Don and Rodney, a retired gay couple, road-trip from Maine to Washington to spend their final days with their son.
After reports that a planet-swallowing black hole is making its way toward Earth, Rodney and Don—who have been together for 40 years and survived everything from homophobia to the HIV crisis—decide to pack their belongings into an RV, say goodbye to their neighbors, and travel from Camden, Maine, to Washington to uphold a promise to spend their final days with their son. They can’t wait any longer, since there’s already chaos around the country: “Military vehicles in the streets of most cities and towns. Looting, rioting, the burning of cars and buildings and people, all of it had already happened.” As they make their way west across the country, they encounter fellow travelers ranging from close-knit families to free-spirited hippies, some of whom have come to terms with the impending end of the world and others who haven’t. While the story seems to be asking readers what they would do if they had 30 days left to live, and reflects on what different kinds of acceptance might look like in the face of unavoidable tragedy, it loses some of its poignancy in a series of thinly padded monologues about the meaning of life. Clearly intended to pack an emotional punch, it’s failed by an abrupt ending, and the way the journey’s mystery—which will be obvious to many readers—is revealed by an info dump in the last chapter.
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781250881236
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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