Light on surprises but historically evocative and helmed by independent female role models.
This third installment of a YA adventure series, set in 1890s Seattle, stars a free-spirited mountaineer and her new friend, a young woman who is struggling to overcome personal demons.
It is September 1891, and Anna Gallagher Chambers is excited about an upcoming meeting with Fay Fuller at the base camp of Mount Rainier to discuss the women’s mountaineering team they hope to form. Readers of the series opener will remember Fay as the first woman to scale the formidable mountain. But now Anna has a problem. She is pregnant and wonders whether she will be allowed to travel to the base camp. And, not incidentally, she worries about what other cherished activities society will force her to give up when she becomes a mother. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Grayson is suffering two setbacks. Levi Gallagher, Anna’s brother, has broken off their courtship—by telegram, no less. And the Grayson family physician, Dr. Glazier, is trying to discourage her from becoming a nurse. He knows she sometimes exhibits obsessive-compulsive behavior (for examples, double- and triple-checking locked doors), although she has tried to keep it hidden from everyone. With misogynistic pomposity, he points out that nursing involves unexpected situations that might unsettle her mind, suggesting that she look for a husband instead. Then he gives voice to her greatest fear: “I certainly wouldn’t want you to end up in the Washington State Hospital for the Insane at Fort Steilacoom.” But Elizabeth, despite her insecurities, has an inner strength and determination that become increasingly apparent as the story develops. The entertaining narrative can hold its own as a stand-alone, although newcomers will need some time to sort out the recurring characters and their backstories. Major underlying themes remain the same: society’s implicit and explicit denigration of women and the vicious racial prejudice directed against the Native Americans who were pushed off their land during the development of Seattle. To this, McGillen adds turn-of-the-century perceptions and misconceptions about mental disorders. An uncomplicated plotline is enhanced by an abundance of historical tidbits and vivid descriptions of period fashion, lifestyles, and mores.
Light on surprises but historically evocative and helmed by independent female role models.Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73342-396-0
Page Count: 284
Publisher: The Evergreen Bookshelf
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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