Mapping the Edge
by Sarah Dunant
Random House, 1999
ISBN: 0-375-50323-4
Hardcover, 24.95.
People go missing every day. They walk out of their front doors and out of their lives into the silence of cold statistics. For those left behind it is the cruelest of long good-byes, because for them there is only pain and doubt. Did that person whom you loved so much-- and thought you knew so well--did they simply choose to go and not come back? Or was it darker than that, and did someone do the choosing for them?
So begins Sarah Dunant's ,Mapping the Edge, a highly skilled and plotted tale of suspense and psychology, both tightly woven and haunting. While Dunant's talents lie primarily in the mystery and suspense genre, having won a Silver Dagger award and been short listed for the Golden Dagger, this novel transcends genre, taking on a rich exploration of reader expectations and parallel narratives.
Anna Franklin a single mother, embarks on a sudden and mysterious trip to Italy, leaving her family and freinds concerned when she fails to return home as expected. Rotating between the the point-of-view of "Home" and that of "Away," Dunant skillfully weaves two simultaneous narratives explaining Anna's failure to return, each fraught with mystery and danger in their own way. At no time, however, does the author give away the true story, but instead plays with each character's and reader's imagination--creating two possible and probable scenarios explaining Anna's absence.
Utilizing the idea of parallel destinies hinging on a single turning point, Dunant explores the question of Anna's own struggle for autonomy, as well as the reaction of her family and freinds to that struggle. While each narrative train is vastly different, they are similar in the choices they force Anna to make and the response they provoke from those waiting for her.
Dunant successfully keeps you quessing in the end, which artfully leaves
you both satisfied and unsatisfied at the same time. For an excellent
work of reader psychology and suspense, Mapping the Edge is highly
recommended.