A contemplative, emotionally layered look at desire, loyalty, and the fragile lines between friendship and love.
A reserved United Nations staffer becomes entangled in an ethically fraught relationship with his friend’s wife in Yorkson’s literary novel.
After a chance meeting at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mark Sanders, a middle-aged human resources officer at the UN, reconnects with Hans Schmidt, an old colleague, and meets Hans’ captivating wife, Yukari Asaka, a talented violinist with a haunting past. As the three form a seemingly innocent friendship, emotional boundaries blur. Yukari slowly reveals her traumatic history: a battle with leukemia, estrangement from her traditional Japanese family, and dreams deferred. As Mark becomes increasingly drawn to her vulnerability and beauty, the novel carefully navigates their escalating emotional intimacy. Set against the multicultural backdrop of late-1990s New York and the formalism of the UN, the narrative unpacks themes of exile—both literal and emotional—while exploring what it means to rebuild one’s identity through art, culture, and connection. Yorkson’s prose is restrained yet perceptive, offering detailed interior monologues and dialogue that reveal more than the characters intend. Music and painting serve as metaphors for the characters’ desires to be seen, remembered, and redeemed. Some scenes are psychologically nuanced, while others veer into melodrama, especially as Yukari seeks refuge in Mark: “‘I’m thinking of divorce. Please help me,’ Yukari said in a single breath.” Although the pacing is slow and the plot minimal, the novel thrives in emotional detail and the tension of unspoken feelings. Mark, in particular, is written with quiet complexity—a man grappling with guilt over his past divorce and the aching recognition that he may again be heading toward emotional compromise. Yukari’s tragic past offers richness, while Hans remains more of an enigma, despite his centrality. Readers who enjoy psychological realism and morally complex relationships will find much to appreciate in Yorkson’s careful storytelling.
A contemplative, emotionally layered look at desire, loyalty, and the fragile lines between friendship and love.Pub Date: July 1, 2025
ISBN: 9798350999723
Page Count: 269
Publisher: BookBaby
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.
Two people with bad luck in relationships find each other through a popular Reddit thread.
Emma Grant and her best friend, Maddy, are travel nurses, working at hospitals for three-month stints while they see the country. Just a few weeks before they’re set to move to Hawaii, Emma reads a popular “Am I the Asshole” Reddit thread from a Minnesota man who thinks he’s cursed—women he dates find their soulmates after breaking up with him, and the latest one found true love with his best friend! Emma has had a similar experience, which inspires her to DM the man and commiserate. She’s delighted by her witty, lively interactions with software engineer Justin Dahl, and is intrigued when he suggests that if they date each other, maybe they’ll each find their soulmate afterward. Emma upends the Hawaii plan and convinces Maddy to move to Minneapolis for the summer so she can meet Justin in person. The overly complex setup brings Emma and Justin together and the two hit it off, with Justin immediately falling head over heels for Emma. Jimenez then pivots to creating romantic roadblocks and melodramatic subplots centering on each character’s family of origin. Justin’s mother is about to serve six years in prison for embezzlement, which means Justin must move back home to care for his three much younger siblings. Emma was traumatized by her own mother for much of her childhood, left to fend for herself and eventually abandoned in the foster system. When her mother shows up in Minnesota, Emma must face her traumatic childhood and admit that she has prioritized her mother’s well-being over her own. There is little time devoted to Emma’s painful efforts to heal herself enough to accept Justin’s love, which leaves the novel feeling unsatisfying.
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781538704431
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.
An artwork’s value grows if you understand the stories of the people who inspired it.
Never in her wildest dreams would foster kid Louisa dream of meeting C. Jat, the famous painter of The One of the Sea, which depicts a group of young teens on a pier on a hot summer’s day. But in Backman’s latest, that’s just what happens—an unexpected (but not unbelievable) set of circumstances causes their paths to collide right before the dying 39-year-old artist’s departure from the world. One of his final acts is to bequeath that painting to Louisa, who has endured a string of violent foster homes since her mother abandoned her as a child. Selling the painting will change her life—but can she do it? Before deciding, she accompanies Ted, one of the artist’s close friends and one of the young teens captured in that celebrated painting, on a train journey to take the artist’s ashes to his hometown. She wants to know all about the painting, which launched Jat’s career at age 14, and the circle of beloved friends who inspired it. The bestselling author of A Man Called Ove (2014) and other novels, Backman gives us a heartwarming story about how these friends, set adrift by the violence and unhappiness of their homes, found each other and created a new definition of family. “You think you’re alone,” one character explains, “but there are others like you, people who stand in front of white walls and blank paper and only see magical things. One day one of them will recognize you and call out: ‘You’re one of us!’” As Ted tells stories about his friends—how Jat doubted his talents but found a champion in fiery Joar, who took on every bully to defend him; how Ali brought an excitement to their circle that was “like a blinding light, like a heart attack”—Louisa recognizes herself as a kindred soul and feels a calling to realize her own artistic gifts. What she decides to do with the painting is part of a caper worthy of the stories that Ted tells her. The novel is humorous, poignant, and always life-affirming, even when describing the bleakness of the teens’ early lives. “Art is a fragile magic, just like love,” as someone tells Louisa, “and that’s humanity’s only defense against death.”
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781982112820
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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