The Reserve
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Part love story, part murder mystery, set on the cusp of the Second World War, Russell Banks's sharp-witted and deeply engaging new novel raises dangerous questions about class, politics, art, love, and madness—and explores what happens when two powerful personalities, trapped at opposite ends of a social divide, begin to break the rules. Moving from the secluded beauty of the Adirondack wilderness to the skies above war-torn Spain and Fascist Germany, The Reserve is a clever, incisive, and passionately romantic novel of suspense that adds a new dimension to this acclaimed author's extraordinary repertoire.
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Interesting book. I don't know that I liked the ending. Everything was tied up at the end, but in a strange way. I don't like story lines where adultery is the main topic.
The passages discussing the Adirondacks are lovely, and at times this book reminded me a bit of Wallace Stegner. There is a wonderful, accurate, and troubling brief discussion of the undermining of the independent “yeomen and yeowomen” as the wealth gap grew in the 20s and 30s ... surely it could be written today. But the characters are too one dimensional; they almost seem like cartoons. Leftist self-indulgent & self-absorbed artist. Beautiful high strung troubled heiress. Noble Adirondack guide. Loyal and rather perfect wife. I wish they had been more nuanced so that the people part of the story would be more believable and engaging.
