Sipsworth A novel

Simon Van Booy

Book - 2024

Following the deaths of her husband and son, Helen Cartwright returns to her hometown in England after living abroad for sixty years. Her only wish is to die quickly and without fuss, and she retreats from the world into a life of dull routine. Then one winter night, a chance encounter with a mouse sets Helen on a surprising journey.

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FICTION/Vanbooy Simon
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FICTION/Vanbooy Simon
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
1st Floor New Shelf FICTION/Vanbooy Simon (NEW SHELF) Due Jan 10, 2025
1st Floor New Shelf FICTION/Vanbooy Simon (NEW SHELF) Due Jan 13, 2025
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Subjects
Genres
Domestic fiction
Novels
Published
Boston : Godine 2024.
Language
English
Main Author
Simon Van Booy (author)
Physical Description
223 pages ; 22 cm
ISBN
9781567927948
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Van Booy's enchanting latest (after The Presence of Absence) depicts the surprisingly touching relationship between an elderly widow and a mouse. After building a life in Australia with her late husband, retired physician Helen Cartwright returns to the English village where she grew up. There, her existence is uneventful, and she's at a loss over what to live for ("Each day was an impersonation of the one before with only a slight shuffle--as though even for death there is a queue"). Then one night she discovers a mouse in her home and offers it a sip of water from an upturned bottle cap. After the mouse takes a drink, she dubs it Sipsworth. Helen's quiet world expands thanks to Sipsworth's companionship as they watch TV and listen to the radio together. Then the mouse shows signs of breathing distress, and Helen, once a renowned pediatric cardiologist, goes into action to save its life. Material that could easily feel saccharine or twee is fresh and often funny, thanks to the author's artful prose and unsparing characterization of the cantankerous Helen, who at one point calls an animal shelter worker an "idiot" for not accepting mice. Van Booy takes the familiar trope of an aging person's unexpected renewal and makes it feel new. Agent: Susanna Lea, Susanna Lea Assoc. (May)

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

It takes a village…to care for an abandoned mouse with breathing issues, and to lure an elderly woman out of isolation. After six decades spent in Australia, 83-year-old Helen Cartwright, a widowed doctor, has returned to England, to the town of her childhood. "Life for her was finished," the days now a routine of cups of tea, slices of toast, hot baths, and daytime TV, interspersed with memories of her dead husband and son. "Each day was an impersonation of the one before with only a slight shuffle--as though even for death there is a queue." Things shift, however, when she chooses to rescue a discarded aquarium from her neighbor's trash. Hidden inside is a mouse, which she first tries to trap and then decides she will take to an animal shelter. Her feelings of responsibility and care for the rodent swell, and providing food and protection from a cat is just the beginning. Soon the mouse, named Sipsworth for its drinking style, is living in her sink and watching television with her from the safety of a slipper. Its needs force Helen to interact more with the outside world--visiting the library for mouse-care books, the hardware store for a new aquarium, and then the hospital for medical advice when Sipsworth suddenly falls ill. Now the novel switches from enigmatic curiosity to something more parable-esque, as Dr. Jamal from the hospital, Cecil from the hardware store, the town librarian, and others offer time, advice, and practical support to a woman who suddenly reveals a wholly unexpected hinterland. The book's closing phase comes in a rush, as what began as the intriguing, sometimes philosophical story of an insular woman with "doors she keeps locked" dashes toward predictability and fairy tale. A sympathetic but uneven oddity. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.