Featuring 363 Industry-First Reviews of Fiction, Nonfiction, Children'sand YA books KIRKUSVOL. LXXXVIII, NO. 5 | 1 MARCH 2020 REVIEWS The Woman Issue CELEBRATING BOOKS BY AND ABOUT WOMEN With Abi Daré, Martha Ackmann, Juliana Delgado Lopera, Robin Ha, and 11 more women writers from the editor’s desk: Chairman Women Writers, Claiming Space HERBERT SIMON President & Publisher BY MEGAN LABRISE MARC WINKELMAN # Chief Executive Officer MEG LABORDE KUEHN [email protected] Fifty congressmen would never need to write a letter to the American Editor-in-Chief TOM BEER president imploring her to stop disrespecting them on the basis of sex. [email protected] Vice President of Marketing Leave alone, for a moment, the fantasy of the woman president. SARAH KALINA The fact is, on Friday, Jan. 31, 50 Democratic congresswomen were [email protected] Managing/Nonfiction Editor compelled to write such a letter to President Donald Trump. They ERIC LIEBETRAU [email protected] admonished his misogynistic rhetoric, ad hominem attacks on promi- Fiction Editor LAURIE MUCHNICK nent women (diplomats, journalists), and anti-woman policies. In word [email protected] Children’s Editor and in deed, they note, Trump is eroding 50 years’ worth of gains by the VICKY SMITH Megan Labrise women’s rights movement. [email protected] Young Adult Editor “It is as if you relish the opportunity to publicly humiliate any woman who fights back, LAURA SIMEON [email protected] speaks up, or takes up space,” they write, identifying the problem—for Trump—of women Editor at Large MEGAN LABRISE demanding to be seen, heard, and valued. [email protected] Vice President of Kirkus Indie Every year, I begin writing the editor’s note to the Woman Issue by interrogating why we KAREN SCHECHNER need to devote these pages to women writers. Every year, I want to start drinking at noon. [email protected] Senior Indie Editor Little wonder women’s anger remains a prominent publishing trend. It’s so plainly, painfully DAVID RAPP [email protected] apparent, from the story above and so many others, that we need to dedicate more space to Indie Editor MYRA FORSBERG women’s stories. [email protected] Associate Manager of Indie To write is to claim space. It is to say, “My story is important. It deserves your attention.” KATERINA PAPPAS Time and time again, in this country and around the world, women are told that their stories [email protected] Editorial Assistant are undeserving relative to men’s. (Look at book advances and marketing budgets; look at the JOHANNA ZWIRNER [email protected] literary canon and school syllabi.) Women’s stories are considered niche, not universal. They Mysteries Editor THOMAS LEITCH are considered domestic, not heroic. And we don’t assume women have the authority to tell Contributing Editor them. We want credentials. GREGORY McNAMEE Copy Editor It is highly unlikely that a man would need to write a letter to readers disclosing the sexual BETSY JUDKINS Designer abuse that inspired his debut novel. But that’s exactly what Kate Elizabeth Russell, the author ALEX HEAD of My Dark Vanessa (William Morrow, March 10), did to defend against plagiarism allega- Director of Kirkus Editorial LAUREN BAILEY tions in a complex situation that revealed this type of abuse—of [email protected] Production Editor a female student by a male teacher—to be much more common HEATHER RODINO than we acknowledge. [email protected] Website and Software Developer “I believe novels can help create space for readers to unpack PERCY PEREZ [email protected] and talk about sensitive or difficult topics,” Russell writes, invit- Advertising Director MONIQUE STENSRUD ing others to share their truths. [email protected] Advertising Associate If women’s stories were afforded the resources they deserve, TATIANA ARNOLD perhaps the truth of their lives wouldn’t be so shocking. And so, [email protected] Graphic Designer once more, we dedicate this space to women writers. I propose a LIANA WALKER [email protected] toast in recognition of the depth of their artistry, the breadth of Controller MICHELLE GONZALES their experience, and the importance of their everyday lives. [email protected] for customer service Fully Booked or subscription questions, Megan Labrise is the editor at large and host of the podcast. please call 1-800-316-9361 Print indexes: www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/print-indexes Submission Guidelines: www.kirkusreviews.com/about/submission-guidlines Kirkus Blog: www.kirkusreviews.com/blog Subscriptions: www.kirkusreviews.com/subscription Advertising Opportunities: www.kirkusreviews.com/about/advertising- Newsletters: www.kirkusreviews.com/subscription/newsletter/add Cover design by opportunities Liana Walker 2 | 1 march 2020 | from the editor’s desk | kirkus.com | you can now youpurchase can now bookspurchase online booksat online kirkus.comat kirkus.com contents the woman issue fiction young adult INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ...........................................................4 INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ....................................................... 160 REVIEWS ...............................................................................................4 REVIEWS ........................................................................................... 160 EDITOR’S NOTE.....................................................................................6 EDITOR’S NOTE..................................................................................162 INTERVIEW: INTERVIEW: ABI DARÉ ..............................................14 INTERVIEW: MARIA PADIAN .........................................................168 INTERVIEW: KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE ................................18 INTERVIEW: ROBIN HA....................................................................172 INTERVIEW: JULIANA DELGADO LOPERA ....................................22 indie MYSTERY .............................................................................................49 INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ........................................................177 SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY ......................................................... 56 REVIEWS ............................................................................................177 ROMANCE ...........................................................................................60 EDITOR’S NOTE................................................................................. 178 nonfiction INTERVIEW: ELLEN MATZER & VALERY HUGHES ...................... 186 INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ......................................................... 62 SEEN & HEARD .................................................................................202 REVIEWS ............................................................................................. 62 APPRECIATIONS: ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET. EDITOR’S NOTE...................................................................................64 AT 50 .................................................................................................. 203 INTERVIEW: GLENNON DOYLE ....................................................... 74 INTERVIEW: MIKKI KENDALL .......................................................... 78 INTERVIEW: ELIESE COLETTE GOLDBACH ................................... 82 TRANSLATIONS: ELISABETH ÅSBRINK..........................................90 FEATURE: MARTHA ACKMANN & JENNIFER BERNE ON EMILY DICKINSON ....................................................................104 CHILDREN’S INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ....................................................... 106 REVIEWS ........................................................................................... 106 EDITOR’S NOTE................................................................................. 108 INTERVIEW: GRACE LIN ................................................................. 116 INTERVIEW: NANCY B. KENNEDY ................................................ 120 Former Washington Post investigative journalist PICTURE BOOKS FOR NATIONAL POETRY MONTH .....................153 Barton Gellman examines Edward Snowden and the U.S. surveillance state in “a riveting, timely book sure to be one of the most significant of the year.” Read the review on p. 70. | kirkus.com | contents | 1 march 2020 | 3 fiction These titles earned the Kirkus Star: TROPIC OF VIOLENCE Appanah, Nathacha Trans. by Strachan, Geoffrey TROPIC OF VIOLENCE by Nathacha Appanah; Graywolf (160 pp.) trans. by Geoffrey Strachan ................................................................... 4 $16.00 paper | May 19, 2020 978-1-64445-024-6 THE INDEX OF SELF-DESTRUCTIVE ACTS by Christopher Beha ....5 DEVOLUTION by Max Brooks ..............................................................8 A teenage boy navigates a life of poverty and brutality on the island of LEONARD AND HUNGRY PAUL by Rónán Hession .........................16 Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. ANTKIND by Charlie Kaufman ......................................................... 20 Moïse is barely 14 when his adop- tive mother, Marie, suddenly dies. They PEW by Catherine Lacey .................................................................... 24 live on the tropical island of Mayotte, officially a “department” of France. Every year, scores of undocumented immigrants— A REGISTRY OF MY PASSAGE UPON THE EARTH from the Comoro Islands, Africa, and elsewhere—wash up on by Daniel Mason ..................................................................................30