THE OTHER MADAME X

by J. Hope Banta ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

After her husband suddenly vanishes in Bangkok, a woman discovers his lurid secret life in this novel.

Catherine Carlyle is in Singapore for work, anxiously waiting for her “fussy” husband, David, a “man of precise routine,” to arrive from Bangkok. But he never materializes, and she quickly finds out that he never even boarded the plane. When the police start an investigation into his disappearance, they obliquely suggest David was familiar with the more salacious entertainments in Bangkok, and those disreputable inclinations might have something to do with his vanishing. When Catherine begins her own search with a friend, her entire conception of David shockingly unravels—she discovers he did in fact frequent underground sex dens and that he has earned a reputation that leaves her enveloped by shame: “When they’d first set out, she had no idea what to expect—perhaps she’d find that David had never been to any of these places. But that was not the case. He’d not just been there, he’d been there enough to be remembered, and even expelled. She needed no more witness to her disgrace.” In addition, she learns that he has been charged with embezzling tens of millions of dollars from powerful and potentially dangerous people. And to make matters even worse, she finds an American passport with David’s picture but a different name—she realizes that she has no idea who she married.

Banta constructs a tantalizingly suspenseful tale that raises provocative questions about not only David’s identity, but Catherine’s as well. The story artfully unfurls without delay or haste—the author furnishes just enough information to keep readers riveted but not so much to sate their curiosity for more. The author never gives away too much too soon. Catherine turns out to be a grippingly complex character—initially docile and trusting, she eventually reveals herself to be in possession of her own deep reservoir of strength as well as her own moral eccentricities. Banta deftly portrays Catherine’s peculiar predicament—she can’t bear to learn more about David’s sordid clandestine life, but she also can’t find solace in oblivion: “The darker possibilities were beginning to root themselves in her imagination. She knew her primary concern really ought to be where David was right at that moment. But she couldn’t let it go.” For the most part, the author’s prose is poetically unadorned, plain and straightforward, but there is a power in this brand of simplicity, a style that lets the dramatic facts speak for themselves. The ending of the book—intended as explosively climactic—is disappointing in relation to the rest of the novel; it’s superfluously complex as well as theatrically melodramatic. The impressive authorial restraint inexplicably disappears and is replaced by an entangled skein of emotional hyperbole. Still, the tale is so captivating that readers will forgive its deflated conclusion.

A haunting exploration of secrets and their consequences.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Manuscript

Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2023

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION