A twisty and unsettling psychological puzzle.
A portrait of a woman on the verge of—or maybe beyond—a nervous breakdown. (Apologies to Almodóvar!)
When Gilles Principaux hires Maître Susane to defend his wife, Marlyne, who’s been accused of the murder of their three young children in Bordeaux, the attorney spirals into a web of obsession, suppression, and uncertainty. Somewhat convinced she has met Gilles before, during the course of a childhood encounter buried deep within her psyche, Maître Susane struggles to determine whether or not Principaux is actually the teenager who may have encouraged her dormant youthful enthusiasm and intelligence, or who may have taken advantage of that enthusiasm in a more troubling fashion. Her persistent questioning of her parents about the circumstance of that episode creates tension in the family and ruptures her relationship with them. Maître Susane’s relationship with her otherwise exemplary housekeeper—an undocumented worker from Mauritius—falters as well due to the housekeeper’s secretiveness (at least in the attorney’s eyes) and her reluctance to provide Maître Susane with the documents needed to support her immigration paperwork. Caught between Marlyne and Gilles and their differing accounts of the domestic life which led up to the triple filicide, and increasingly concerned with the welfare of her own young “goddaughter-in-spirit,” Maître Susane engages in projection and perseveration kickstarted by the appearance of Gilles in her office. NDiaye, winner of the Prix Goncourt, slowly delivers scene after scene of puzzling and ambivalent behavior on the part of her protagonist but also those in her orbit. A series of startling monologues by Marlyne and Gilles set out their positions in the drama, but Maître Susane’s internal equilibrium is puzzlingly out of balance as she continually asks herself: Who is Gilles Principaux to me?
A twisty and unsettling psychological puzzle.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9780593534243
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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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