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PARAISO by Gordon Chaplin is not your traditional mystery. This story of a brother and sister who struggle toward reconciliation after a heart-breaking series of misunderstandings, betrayals and family dysfunction is described in some reviews as genre-bending, with some justification. Your first clues that this is not your normal family are the very names of the sister and brother – Peter and Wendy. The author makes a point of letting you know the names were picked out by the mother.
The author provides a narrative of the lives of the two siblings – Wendy, a sports photographer who just had a book published and journeys to Paraiso, Mexico. Her brother Peter lives in New York City and works for a book publisher. He has just signed a new author who has written a major novel. Peter and Wendy enjoyed a very close relationship as children, but have been estranged for years. The reasons for their estrangement are revealed at the end of the novel; suffice it to say the family dynamic has never been healthy.
The bombing of the World Trade Center on 9/11 provides the impetus for action for both characters – they each try to contact the other. Peter reaches out to Wendy's best friend, Claire for information about Wendy; Wendy also contacts Claire to find out if Peter is all right.
The book includes flashbacks to earlier parts of their lives – when they run away and plan to go to Mexico, the death of their mother, Peter's seeming inability to form satisfying relationships with women, their mother's self-destructive behavior, Wendy's hospitalization for a psychiatric disorder, etc.
There are several murders in the book, although there is not much mystery involved in the actual deeds. The mystery is more about the family dynamic among Peter, Wendy and their mother, the lies and the betrayals that occurred. Although there is a somewhat benevolent father figure in the picture, he is so overwhelmed by family pathology he proves himself pretty well useless.
The plot also includes a pregnancy, a lesbian relationship, a psychopathic villain, a hero-worshipping teenager, an aspiring novelist living in the Maine woods, a Don Quixote-like figure on a quest, child abuse and more. In fact there were so many plot lines that sprang up there was really no way for the author to successfully resolve all of them. In I wonder if a thoughtful editor would have suggested penciling some of them out.
I did like Chaplin's use of place in this novel – some of the most successful writing in the book were the descriptions of the different locales; whether he was describing New York or small towns in Mexico, the passages were almost lyrical.
While this novel may not satisfy a reader who is looking for a traditional whodunit, it may well prove to be of some interest to book discussion groups who would take pleasure in dissecting the many dark issues that the author uncovers as well as the characters' motivations and the decisions they make.
§ Phyllis Onstad has been a writer, editor, civil servant, teacher and voracious reader. She currently lives in the California wine country.
Reviewed by Phyllis Onstad, August 2016
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