Title: SAINT X
Expected publication: out now
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟 1/2
Book Description:
Claire is only seven years old when her college-age sister,
Alison, disappears on the last night of their family vacation at a resort on
the Caribbean island of Saint X. Several days later, Alison’s body is found in
a remote spot on a nearby cay, and two local men – employees at the resort -
are arrested. But the evidence is slim, the timeline against it, and the men
are soon released. The story turns into national tabloid news, a lurid mystery
that will go unsolved. For Claire and her parents, there is only the return
home to broken lives.
Years later, Claire is living and working in New York City when a brief but fateful encounter brings her together with Clive Richardson, one of the men originally suspected of murdering her sister. It is a moment that sets Claire on an obsessive pursuit of the truth - not only to find out what happened the night of Alison’s death but also to answer the elusive question: Who exactly was her sister? At seven, Claire had been barely old enough to know her: a beautiful, changeable, provocative girl of eighteen at a turbulent moment of identity formation.
As Claire doggedly shadows Clive, hoping to gain his trust, waiting for the slip that will reveal the truth, an unlikely attachment develops between them, two people whose lives were forever marked by the same tragedy.
Years later, Claire is living and working in New York City when a brief but fateful encounter brings her together with Clive Richardson, one of the men originally suspected of murdering her sister. It is a moment that sets Claire on an obsessive pursuit of the truth - not only to find out what happened the night of Alison’s death but also to answer the elusive question: Who exactly was her sister? At seven, Claire had been barely old enough to know her: a beautiful, changeable, provocative girl of eighteen at a turbulent moment of identity formation.
As Claire doggedly shadows Clive, hoping to gain his trust, waiting for the slip that will reveal the truth, an unlikely attachment develops between them, two people whose lives were forever marked by the same tragedy.
What attracted me to this book:
SAINT X was such an unexpected reading pleasure for me – it
came up as “new on audio” on my library website and I clicked on it on a whim.
With a hold that was estimated to come through around Xmas, I did not expect to
get to it any time soon, but it came through early and here I am!
My musings:
A young girl’s death on a Caribbean tourist island has
lasting consequences for those around her, in particular her sister Clare and
the young men who were last seen with her. Due to lack of evidence, the cause
of her death has never been explained. The
story follows adult Clare, who becomes obsessed with finding out what really
happened on that fateful holiday.
Even though the story started like a traditional type of
mystery, it was instantly obvious to me that the author has a real flair for
social critique, examining the motives of her rich cast of characters and
exposing their most innermost thoughts and flaws for the world to see. I loved
the way she achieves this by including snippets of different characters’ lives
into the narrative, all of whom have had some contact with the victim prior to
her death. Each snapshot tells us a lot about these peripheral characters, also
adding a piece of the puzzle to discover the real Alison. Photographic detail
and the courage to lay bare some of our most shameful assumptions and habits
make this tale roll out in almost cinematographic fashion in front of the
reader’s eyes. For me, the focus was not on the mystery of Alison’s death, but
on the effects of a violent death on those whose lives she had touched, in
particular her little sister.
There are many interesting themes that run like threads through
the story: racism, the effects of tourism on a remote paradise, loss of
innocence, privilege, coming of age, the aftermath of trauma and the lasting
consequences for those involved. I was glad that I chose the audio book
version, because here the slow burn of the story really worked, especially with
the rich cast of narrators, who each brought their own magic to the story.
Summary:
I think that SAINT X will appeal to readers who
appreciate a character study as much as a slow burning mystery, because to me
the mystery component took a backward step here, which made the book unique and
interesting. It made what could have been a standard, run-of-the-mill mystery
into something so much more, and I really enjoyed the journey. The author’s
descriptive writing was a real treat, her honesty and social critique
refreshing and thought provoking, and her characters life-like and well
rounded. I really look forward to reading more from this author in future.
I have to say, I really wish I could find a blog where reviews contain the ending/spoilers. I would love to have a place to process the book once I read it
ReplyDeleteYou may have better luck on Goodreads - there are lots of groups where you can discuss books, everything about them, including spoilers.
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