A riveting story of family and the unease of harboring dark secrets.
A painter who’s been hiding herself and her daughter for years plots revenge in Murphy’s psychological thriller.
It’s 1968, and teen Blue Lake has changed towns nearly 10 times in the last six years. Blue isn’t even her real name; she and her mother, Scarlet, pick new names for every move. All this time, Scarlet has been running from “HIM,” a mysterious man who apparently keeps tracking down the mother and daughter. Blue calls HIM the Shadow Man, but she’s never seen this person, nor his distinctive black Cadillac. She’s tired of constantly moving and ready to settle down, and South Haven, Michigan, seems as good a place as any. She quickly makes a friend, stumbles into potential romance, and hones her already sharp piano skills. But Scarlet didn’t randomly choose South Haven as their latest refuge—it’s where she plans to mete out vengeance, which entails appointments with psychoanalyst Dr. Henry Williams. It’s a plan that could have profound consequences for both herself and Blue. The author has crafted a quietly suspenseful tale—readers know from the beginning the startling thing Scarlet has planned while Henry, in alternating first-person narratives, digs into the past to learn all he can about his curious, deliberately vague new patient. The mother and daughter have their own narrative voices and share a complex dynamic; Blue feels the mother she loves is “suffocating” her, and Scarlet worries her maturing daughter is “less agreeable” than she once was. A string of mysteries further bolsters the tension as Scarlet begins exhibiting signs of paranoia and schizophrenia (has she really seen the black Cadillac?). This engrossing book’s latter half delivers surprises all the way to the end with a strikingly oppressive atmosphere lingering throughout, from the unrelenting winter snow in the opening chapters to the Lakes’ run-down house in South Haven.
A riveting story of family and the unease of harboring dark secrets.Pub Date: March 8, 2022
ISBN: 9780593183465
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Jan. 4, 2024
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
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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