The Reservoir

April 11, 2011
Thompson (America's Historic Trails) fleshes out the bones of an actual 1885 murder case in his solidly entertaining first novel. When the body of a pregnant young white woman is found floating in a Richmond, Va., reservoir one cold March morning, she appears to have taken her own life. After she's identified as Lillian Madison, Police Justice Daniel Cincinnatus Richardson arrests Tommie Cluverius, Lillian's cousin, for murder. In flashbacks, Thompson reveals the links between Lillian and Tommie, an ambitious, mercurial fledgling lawyer, and Tommie's older brother, Willie, an earnest, steadfast farmer. Lillian is attracted to both, but falls for Tommie, who has his eye set on a more advantageous marriage. A tense trial ensues in which Willie is forced to measure his devotion to his brother against the various versions of events related by Tommie. The strong period setting lifts a somewhat prosaic tragedy. Author tour.

April 1, 2011

A novel based on a true story that incorporates a bit of history and a touch of the Southern Gothic tradition. 

In 1885 Virginia, Tommie and Willie Cluverius have grown to manhood together in the house of their Aunt Jane only to choose far different paths in life. Willie loves the rich land and the peaceful pace of farm life. Tommie seeks the vibrancy of Richmond, a day's ride away. The two were shaped by a family tragedy, the death of a younger brother, Charles, drowned as a boy. Their mother then descended into despondency and drink, and the father became lost and inept, leaving no place for the boys except with their widowed, childless aunt. But Aunt Jane soon gave refuge to Fannie Lillian Madison, a distant cousin to the young men, a girl fleeing a troubled home life. Stolid, hardworking Willie develops a quiet, protective love for Lillie. Out of lust or simple entitlement or sibling rivalry, Tommie toys with Lillie's affections even as he progresses through college, through law school and into a partnership in a law practice. The situation is made worse by Lillie's unremitting passion for Tommie and Tommie's ambition to marry Nola, the only daughter of a prosperous landowner. Lillie becomes pregnant, and, after a secret rendezvous with Tommie in Richmond, she is found dead in a city reservoir. The author writes compellingly about the bond between Willie and Tommie, and his portrayal of the social mores of the post-Civil War South is believable. Thompson also draws the land and people persuasively. Despite one or two minor anachronisms, the narrative flows seamlessly, even throughout Tommie's arrest and trial and the story's uncertain resolution. Characters are especially well-drawn: Willie's love of the land, Lillie's fearful need to be nurtured and protected, Tommie's self-centered drive toward recognition.

An engaging mystery novel rendered as Southern literature.

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April 15, 2011

Historian and debut novelist Thompson mined a treasure trove of documents and background detail for this novel, based on an actual murder and trial set in 1880s Richmond, VA. The book begins like any procedural drama--a body found in the city reservoir, a grisly autopsy, the assembling of evidence--but Thompson creates a backstory for the individuals involved. Lillie Madison, an attractive flirt, toys with the affections of her cousins, brothers Willie and Tommie. Willie is a stoic farmer who defers to his younger brother, but Tommie, an ambitious lawyer, doesn't want to endanger his fledgling career when Lillie becomes pregnant. Did Tommie actually kill Lillie at the reservoir, or did Lillie commit suicide? Thompson masterfully illustrates how a seemingly clear-cut case can be filled with ambiguities. Newspaper coverage sensationalizes Tommie's trial and influences the outcome, while Tommie's lawyers and judges, honored veterans of the Confederacy, already seem like antiquated figures. Thompson puts us in the middle of Reconstruction-era Richmond, a Southern city emerging into modern times. VERDICT While not as ponderous as Caleb Carr's The Alienist, for example, this novel will appeal to readers of historically accurate fiction.--Reba Leiding, James Madison Univ. Libs., Harrisonburg, VA

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