An expertly structured, morally complicated, and surprisingly timely blend of fact and fiction.
An intimate, sidelong look at Argentina's bloodiest dictatorship.
In this fictionalized retelling of the regime that terrorized Argentina from 1976-'83, composed as a triptych, Kohan depicts its mental and emotional impacts on the everyday people of his home country. The opening section, "Mercedes," recounts the sexual awakening of 12-year-old Mirta López in 1941 and her repeated attempts to absolve her "wicked thoughts" within the dark confessional booth of uncomfortably curious Father Suñé (“And what exactly did you feel while you were doing it?”). The catalyst for Mirta's newfound urges is none other than future brutal dictator Jorge Rafaél Videla, referred to only as "the Videlas’ eldest son," who passes Mirta's house on a predictable route, affording her a view from a conveniently situated armchair. Eventually, Mirta ventures outside and attempts to cross paths—but never interact—with the boy, until one day at Mass he unexpectedly sits next to her and Mirta's lust reaches a surreptitious culmination right there in the pew. Hinting descriptions of Argentina's "old water cartography, canals and bends, unspoken tunnels" punctuate the first section and link it to the second, "Airport," which details an attempt by Marxist guerrillas to assassinate Videla nearly 40 years later as his airplane takes off. The pseudonymous operatives access the underground waterways of Buenos Aires to plant dynamite beneath a runway, but one crucial explosive fails to detonate. The final section, "Plaza Mayor," recounts a game of cards between the elderly Mirta López and her grandson as a foggy, circuitous conversation about the past unfolds. Propulsive and unsparing, Kohan's prose mimics the uncertainties of history and suggests that truth resides somewhere between official record and popular memory and that reality is thorny, ambiguous, and fully human in its messiness.
An expertly structured, morally complicated, and surprisingly timely blend of fact and fiction.Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781913867652
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Charco Press
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
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
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
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