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THE RESERVOIR by John Milliken Thompson is an oddly suspenseful example of Southern gothic that pulls you into an almost post-modern mystery, although it takes place in 1885. At the start, we think we are learning everything that there is to know about the plot: A young pregnant girl is found floating in a reservoir and we follow the actions of a young man, seemingly trying to cover his steps after the killing. But is this really the whole story? Is this even the story at all? The narrative is presented in a cinematic way, going back and forth between different aspects of the case and the people involved. At some points, we follow the police and their investigators who are trying to track down the identity of the girl, what occurred and who was involved. At other points, we learn the history and character of Tommie, the young lawyer who may or may not have killed the girl Lillie and about their families and relationships. And then we are back in the present, with Tommie trying to deal with the ongoing events that lead him to be a suspect and then the accused. One aspect of the writing that at first seems awkward actually works well as the book progresses. Many of the chapters and sections begin with the author using the present tense. What seems to be an unsophisticated style begins to work well and contribute to the cinematic qualities of the book as a whole. Another oddity is the character of Tommie himself. Although we are privy to his actions and his inner life, he seems not to have much of a core. The malleability of his personality makes any of the possible accounts of his true actions plausible. He seems to have an inner vacuum, a lack of strong feelings, qualities that contribute to the existential quality of his character, and may remind the reader of Camus' protagonist in THE STRANGER. The characters in this novel operate under a patina of Southern respectability, with Tommie's aunt, for example, serving dinner to the police who have come to arrest her nephew. Thompson took his story from accounts of a real life event that included a drowning and a murder trial. He has had to make up details and he says in an afterword that he does not know what really may have happened. However, the author's lack of certainty about what occurred or the true motivations of the people involved becomes something mysterious and compelling for the reader. Anne Corey is a writer, poet, teacher and botanical artist in New York's Hudson Valley.
Reviewed by Anne Corey, April 2011
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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