The American Lover

Starred review from December 22, 2014
In the title story, which kicks off this collection from Tremain (Man Booker Prize shortlisted for Restoration), Beth, a British author nearing 30, has recently been in a car accident that broke both her legs. Recuperating at her parents’ apartment, Beth takes to waiting for Rosalita, the housekeeper, who comes by every afternoon and listens to the story of Beth’s life, while dusting and sharing some stories of her own. In Paris at age 19, Beth was seduced by an older, aloof American who left her bereft after his sudden departure. Beth then depicted their relationship in what became a global sensation of a novel, which made her rich but no less forlorn. “The Housekeeper” features a former servant in a grand English estate recounting the betrayal of a lover. In “Extra Geography,” two high school girls, both field hockey players, set their sights on a young female teacher. The breadth of subjects and settings is matched by Tremain’s exquisite prose. Readers might just want to take a break between stories, to savor the language and the images.

December 1, 2014

Tremain's baker's dozen stories are beautiful depictions of the messy interiors of human emotions. In her title story, a once-popular author, now crippled after a devastating accident, reflects on the obsessive love affair that both made and destroyed her. In "The Jester of Astapovo," a depressed 1910 Russian stationmaster stuck in a shriveled marriage while pining for an unattainable "other" is caught up in the drama of hiding a desperately ill Leo Tolstoy from his madly controlling wife. "The Housekeeper" moves forward 26 years, presenting the story behind the story of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. The narrator, Mrs. Danowski, is asked by her employer, Lord de Whithers of Manderville Hall, to give visiting guest du Maurier a tour of the estate. A stop at the summerhouse on the grounds triggers an explosive, albeit secretive affair between the women that ultimately leads to shocking literary betrayal. VERDICT Award-winning novelist Tremain (The Road Home) has written an exquisite collection of stories that span decades, continents, and the thin line between reality and imagination, with each piece fleshing out conflicts of the heart with masterly strokes.[See Prepub Alert, 8/22/14.]--Beth Andersen, formerly with Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI

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