Basically every story has already been told.
About love, about war, about growing up, about murder and its investigation.
In this respect, the talent of an author is not measured by the subject, but by the form: How do the characters talk, how is the plot organized, how are space and time tapped?
The "what" is important, the "how" is much more important.
Since genre literature often follows craft criteria, most crime novels appear conventional in the best sense of the word.
There are exceptions regularly, masterpieces rarely.
Based on François Truffaut's interview book about Alfred Hitchcock, one could ask: "Alexis Schaitkin, how did you do it?"
Kai Spanke
Editor in the features section.
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The American author released her debut "Saint X" last year and received so much applause that mild skepticism arose.
The conventional beginning seems to confirm the reservation: In 1995 a family of the upper class visits a fictional Caribbean island.
Father, mother, eighteen year old Alison and her seven year old sister Claire.
You can play volleyball and have cocktails served on the beach.
Just before the end of the trip, Alison disappears.
The police are investigating.
Without success.
After a few days, vacationers find the young woman's body on a neighboring island.
Symphonic being
The thematic is the classic crime food. At the same time, the author's ingenious observations (“Couldn't think of it” category) and her characterization of the victim indicate that great things can be expected here. This Alison is a little unruly, but at the same time engaging and clever; one cannot grasp their symphonic nature. Once the now grown-up Claire, from whose perspective most of the story is portrayed, says: “My sister was innocent, she is not to blame for her terrible fate. And at the same time it was all her fault. ”Schaitkin, who proves to be a shrewd psychologist, ignites such smoke candles in optimal doses. This applies not only to the characters, but to the entire range of motifs in the book.
It's about family dynamics, the connection between skin colors and privileges, and about the fact that even the most keen awareness of political correctness does not protect against racism. For example, says Claire, who lives in the ethnically colorful Flatbush, although she could have moved to a more dignified area of New York: “I have to admit that I was impressed by myself because I lived in a house where I was one of the few belonged to white tenants. ”The author approaches delicate questions in a human, all too human, sometimes moral, sometimes immoral or sober way. Your novel never becomes an editorial, the perception is always through the staff.
One day Claire runs into one of the men who was last on the island with Alison. His name is Clive, who was arrested at the time but released for lack of evidence. Claire stalks him, at first level-headed, then obsessively. Finally she speaks to him - and the two meet regularly at a diner. In addition, she devotes herself to old recordings that her sister made on cassette and researches the facts about the case, which has long since become part of the true crime industry. In passing, Schaitkin reflects on why crime stories are so fascinating.
In addition, she fans out bit by bit the consequences of Alison's death: for the family, the island, its residents and holidaymakers.
Some of them have their say, each with an individual, carefully crafted sound.
The decisive factor for the quality of the book, however, is that it is not the question of the circumstances of death that carries the plot, but rather the personalities of Alison, Claire and Clive, who are drawn with ever finer lines and in need of interpretation.
You shouldn't apply too thickly in meetings.
It quickly feels like you're drunk with enthusiasm or, in the case of a slap, condescending.
That is why we say as carefully as we can: “Saint X” is a perfectly composed bravura piece that can compete with the literary highlights of the past few years.