524. Trespass

Rating:  ☆☆☆☆

Recommended by:  Boulder Librarian

Author:   Rose Tremain

Genre:   Fiction, Foreign

273 pages, published October 18, 2010

Reading Format:   Book

Summary

Trespass tells the story of the competing interests over an isolated stone farmhouse, the Mas Lunel, in southern France.  The owner, Aramon has let his life devolve into squalor as punishment for his past sins.  His sister Audrun, who was vicitimized by Aramon and their father, is trapped in the torment of her past.  She loves the house and the land and can’t imagine anyone else taking possession of it.  Enter Anthony Verey, a disillusioned antiques dealer from London who views Mas Lunel as his chance to start over.  The clashing interests of these three individuals sets in motion a series of tragic events.

Quotes 

“They both knew that it was borrowed, because if you left your own country, if you left it late, and made your home in someone else’s country, there was always a feeling that you were breaking an invisible law, always the irrational fear that, one day, some ‘rightful owner’ would arrive to take it all away, and you would be driven out . . .”

 

My Take

Trespass was the first book that I have read by Rose Tremain and I was impressed.  She is a gift writer and hooked me into this dramatic story  of family love and betrayal.  There is also a real undercurrent of sadness that gives the story a poignancy and endurance.  I look forward to reading more of Tremain’s work.