Book Review: Trust by Kate Veitch

Rating:

Susanna Greenfield appears to have the perfect life. She has a handsome architect husband, Gerry;  two gifted teenage children, Seb and Stella-Jean; as well as a teaching career and an art exhibition in the offing. But scratch the surface and the cracks begin to appear – however Susanna is an expert in applying domestic glue; she has spent a lifetime being the appeaser and the fixer. In contrast her beautiful highly strung sister Angie has taken a jagged journey through drug addiction and is now immersed in the world of fundamentalist Christianity. Their mother, Jean, is very close to Susanna and finds it hard to forgive her younger daughter’s failures.

All of the books characters are dealing with their own issues, some are merely hinted at while others more explicit. Then one tragic event alters the landscape of their existence. Secrets are exposed and lives are changed. The tag line to Trust is ‘what if your perfect life was based on lies?’ The plot twists and turns, taking the reader on a marvellous and challenging journey. For Susanna the issue of trust is not only about trusting others, but more importantly about trusting herself. She learns to believe in the value of her creativity and the importance of her own inner voice.

The book opens with a game of tennis and this proves a powerful metaphor for much of the interaction between characters throughout the story. A great deal is revealed through the back-and-forth banter of conversational play. Quirky verbal mannerisms and careless slips of the tongue paint wonderfully detailed pictures for the reader. This is a book to be both devoured and savoured. The intricacies of the plot make it difficult to put down and the story lingers in the imagination long after the last page has been turned. This is a recommended read for a long lazy afternoon.

Kate Veitch was born in Adelaide 1955, grew up in Melbourne, and has lived in Darwin, New York, and Ubud. Her first novel, Listen, was a bestseller in Australia and Germany, and was published in the US as Without a Backward Glance. Trust is her second novel. She currently divides her time between Australia and San Francisco, for reasons of romance.