Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Through war,and family, hope survives
Trespass deftly weaves romance and the start of the war in Iraq.
By Angie Drobnic Holan, Times Staff Writer
Published September 23, 2007
More than one mother has thought of her son's girlfriend as a foreign invader, and that's certainly the case with artist Chloe Dale. As Trespass opens, the battle is engaged at an upscale Manhattan restaurant, where Chloe is buying dinner for her college-aged son, Toby, and his new love, Salome. Instead of indulging in Chloe's choice of white Bordeaux, the heavy-lidded young woman drinks cup upon cup of black coffee. It sounds almost comic, but in author Valerie Martin's hands, the scene is tense and disquieting. Is she setting the stage for a Fatal Attraction-style fable geared to boomer parents? Fortunately, no. While Trespass starts like a thriller, it turns into a well-paced novel concerned with what it means to be an outsider, and how connections become remarkably close in the global village. Salome's family fled Yugoslavia for Louisiana after the Balkan War of the 1990s. Salome grows up motherless but is a brilliant student. She bewitches Toby, who is dreadfully naive but begins to grow up with his attachment to her. Then Salome learns her mother might still be alive. The novel cuts back and forth between Salome and Toby's romance and the carefully constructed lives of his parents. Chloe is an illustrator, Brendan an academic. They live in a well-appointed home in a rural enclave, but around the time they meet Salome, their homestead is violated by a mysterious poacher. Martin has written seven novels, but is probably best known as the author of Mary Reilly, a retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In Trespass, Martin turns to the contemporary world, especially the buildup to the Iraq war. One thing the characters agree on is their disdain for the administration and the rush to war. Yet the unresolved repercussions of the war in Yugoslavia are front and center. The story of Salome's mother brings them face to face with the horrors of war, but Trespass manages to end on a hopeful note, acknowledging that the passage of time can lead to a peace of sorts. Angie Drobnic Holan is a Times news researcher. Trespass By Valerie Martin Nan A. Talese, 304 pages, $25
[Last modified September 19, 2007, 15:57:40]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Letter to the editor
