One of the perks of being a Little Free Library steward is getting books donated and reading them first. In the past year, Celadon Books, an imprint of Macmillan books, created a program with the LFL organization to send books to stewards to promote their authors' works. Usually, I put them straight in the LFL so that they can get read by others. When Saint X arrived in the mail, the cover art quickly caught my attention. Yes, I will admit that I do judge a book by its cover. I scanned the back cover to read the synopsis, and I was quickly intrigued by the story and just had to read it before passing it along. The book did not disappoint.
The story opens up on a fictional island in the Caribbean, where affluent, White people come to experience the island's culture from a distance. When Alison, a college freshman on vacation with her family, disappears, the novel really begins. The aftermath that this experience has on her family, especially her younger sister and the suspects in her disappearance, is the novel's core. Told in lush language, Schaitkin takes your imagination from Saint X to New York City in vivid detail. The novel is non-linear, going back and forth between memory and present-day to unfold a story about the secrets we keep and how no one really knows another's truth, even you, yourself. While there are elements of suspense this element is just a small part of the story. I really enjoyed Schaitkin's writing style, and her social commentary on how being born into privilege is merely the luck of the draw. 📖🐛🐛🐛🐛
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