A credible approximation of a 19th-century diary that deftly blends history and horror.
A perilous 19th-century voyage to the wilds of Alaska awakens a subterranean terror.
This lively work of historical horror opens in 1866 when President Andrew Johnson assigns Interior Department Field Director Jack Calsin to survey the Alaskan territory that the U.S. is about to purchase from Russia. Johnson hopes it will bolster his chances in the upcoming election if the survey finds evidence of gold and other valuable resources. In Jack’s first-person account, trouble begins when one of the ship’s main boilers explodes, killing crew members. From then on, the catastrophes mount—fatal illnesses, a destructive storm, and a disastrous landing on Alaska’s coast. Even as Jack is given a brief respite to marvel at the abundant wildlife, plentiful ore deposits, and rugged beauty of the surroundings, the author ups the suspense with the threat of something deadly looming. “A creature,” says a tribal shaman, “who hunts during the anger of the big wind and frozen water!” (Although short at 80 pages, the 19th-century setting of this illustrated tale and the wonders and terrors Jack observes during his ill-fated trip are reminiscent of the Jules Verne 1871 classic, Journey to the Center of the Earth.) Marich knowledgeably weaves the historical into the fantastical with references to Johnson’s role in the fraught post–Reconstruction Era, the bitterness of the ship’s crew (comprised of former Union soldiers) over Johnson’s leniency toward the Southern rebels, and the torment of the ship’s doctor, haunted by graphic memories of the dead and maimed on the Civil War battlefields. Touched upon here, too, is a sense of what life was like onboard a three-masted ship with coal-burning boilers. Scattered throughout are full-page illustrations of some of the story’s dramatic scenes roughly executed by the author in what appears to be charcoal, sepia, and colored pencil. A sequel is planned.
A credible approximation of a 19th-century diary that deftly blends history and horror.Pub Date: April 25, 2022
ISBN: 9780965449151
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Marlet House Productions
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.
A French art historian’s English-language fiction debut combines the story of a loving relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter with an enlightening discussion of art.
One day, when 10-year-old Mona removes the necklace given to her by her now-dead grandmother, she experiences a frightening, hour-long bout of blindness. Her parents take her to the doctor, who gives her a variety of tests and also advises that she see a psychiatrist. Her grandfather Henry tells her parents that he will take care of that assignment, but instead, he takes Mona on weekly visits to either the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, or the Centre Pompidou, where each week they study a single work of art, gazing at it deeply and then discussing its impact and history and the biography of its maker. For the reader’s benefit, Schlesser also describes each of the works in scrupulous detail. As the year goes on, Mona faces the usual challenges of elementary school life and the experiences of being an only child, and slowly begins to understand the causes of her temporary blindness. Primarily an amble through a few dozen of Schlesser’s favorite works of art—some well known and others less so, from Botticelli and da Vinci through Basquiat and Bourgeois—the novel would probably benefit from being read at a leisurely pace. While the dialogue between Henry and the preternaturally patient and precocious Mona sometimes strains credulity, readers who don’t have easy access to the museums of Paris may enjoy this vicarious trip in the company of a guide who focuses equally on that which can be seen and the context that can’t be. Come for the novel, stay for the introductory art history course.
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798889661115
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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
SEEN & HEARD
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