Withal, Bergman just plain writes well. Her well-constructed sentences manage to say in a few, well-chosen words, what no amount of adverbs or hyperbole could ever convey. There are no stereotypes here: her characters ring absolutely true. Bergman’s prose is deceptively simple (simple being a whole lot harder than complex). Herewith, her take on motherhood, as expressed by a woman dealing with the hard choices of an unexpected pregnancy, who has turned to her mother for advice:
“’Thanks for coming,’ I said.
“Mothers, I believe, intoxicate us. We idolize them and take them for granted. We hate them and blame them and exalt them more thoroughly than anyone else in our lives. We sift through the evidence of their love, reassure ourselves of their affection and its biological genesis. We can steal and lie and leave and they will love us.
“’I’ll put tea on while you get dressed,’ she said. “’I brought muffins.’”
My only problem with this book is that I want to give it to every student I ever had, as an example of what writing can be and do. I also want to give it to every woman I know. It is that good.
— J. S.
THE EXPATS
by Chris Pavone, © 2012
Published by Crown Publishers, NY; Hardcover, 326 pp
The author of this book, Chris Pavone, spent the first years of his literary career as an editor, a job that requires organizational skills, ruthless nerve, and a keen eye for what makes a good story. His experience has served him well: This, his first novel, is a lively tale of espionage that is bound to receive high marks.
The Expats has the requisite intricacy of a good spy novel and then some, and just as this reader narrowed her eyes and thought: “…bet I know what happens next…” Pavone flipped my expectations into something absolutely unexpected. All of which makes for lots of fun, if, like me, you enjoy being surprised.
The story is set in Europe, mostly in Luxembourg and Paris, areas the author knows well, having moved there a few years back when his wife took a job in Luxembourg. His real-life experiences as an “ex-pat,” a term used to describe Americans who live and work outside the USA, lends authority and authenticity to his writing. Along with his wife’s new job, Pavone became the stay-at-home parent, a novel (!) experience for him. Anyone who has had to adjust to being “just a housewife” after having had an exciting, thriving career will appreciate his description of what that adjustment entails, as articulated vividly through his fictional creation, Kate Moore.
The story involves a married couple, Dexter Moore and his wife, Kate, who are living in Luxemburg with their two young sons. There is no way to discuss the plot in detail without ruining its many twists and surprises, but suffice it to say that no one turns out to be who you think they are, even when you’re right in thinking that they’re not whom they appear to be. Something fishy is definitely going on at just about every turn.
What can be appreciated and reported here is the skill with which Pavone builds his characters, particularly Kate. We are given flashes of Kate’s former life as a CIA agent, when a traumatic incident caused her to leave active duty. Her husband, Dexter, is a computer nerd who knows nothing of his wife’s past. His job as a security consultant for a big financial institution is what has taken them to Luxembourg, where he will be paid a good deal more than he has been earning in America, and Kate can be a lady of leisure. It doesn’t take long for the plot to thicken nicely from there.
We haven’t had a savvy, competent lady spy in a very long time, never mind one who is also a good mother. It’s a pleasure to make her acquaintance. Kate is a woman with a conscience, determined to move forward and make the best of things, even as she occasionally chafes at the lack of excitement in her life.
The pre-publication publicity for this book contains many extravagant blurbs from popular authors, nearly all of whom tout Pavone’s “carefully crafted” “skillfully plotted” “jet-fueled story,” but what this reviewer found most appealing in his work were the very human characters who had to deal with, puzzle out, and make choices, all within the decidedly dangerous proceedings. Pavone is a dab hand at both mayhem and domesticity, something unusual in the business of flash-and-dash spy novels. His main characters actually care for each other outside the bedroom, and we find ourselves caring for them, too.
This is a book to enjoy under just about any conditions, but it will help if you have a few large blocks of time, because you’re not going to want to set it down too often. If you’re looking for the next big page-turner, you’ve found it in The Expats.
— J. S.
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