Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin
Book Review: 5 out of 5 star review
7-year-old Claire and her older sister, Alison, are on vacation with their parents on the Caribbean island of Saint X. On their last evening there, Alison disappears. Days later, her body is found and the police arrest two local men, Clive and Edwin. Clive and Edwin are soon released as there is not enough evidence to hold them. So the family comes home. Years later when Claire is an adult and living in New York City, she runs into Clive. Claire becomes obsessed with learning the truth of what happened to Alison and she starts to follow Clive around the city. She’s sure that someday he’ll make a mistake and the truth will be known.
This is the type of book that, while it tells a very interesting story, it’s not the story itself that makes it special but rather the telling of the story. The author has a wonderful way of bringing her reader right into the hearts and minds of her characters. Each of the characters has their own tale to tell and even the characters who only make a brief appearance have their chance to share their views. There are a lot of layers to this intelligent book and I absolutely loved it. It’s a slow moving, beauty of a book, languid like a warm Caribbean beach, but keeps lovingly pulling you along.
Keep an eye on this debut author. She’ll be going far for sure!
This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.
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