'The Trespasser' by Tana French

Reading several books by the same author in short sequence is always a risk. I’ve loved three of Tana French’s books, but ‘The Trespasser’ – not so much.

What do I like about her writing? Tana French manages to take us into a world, absorbs us into a social environment that’s unfamiliar. In Faithful Place it was the poor area of Dublin, in Secret Place a rich white girls’ boarding school, in The Whych Elm it was inside the reality of brain damage and how it alters the life of all involved.

In The Trespasser the author follows the well trodden path of the murderous who-dunnit, with all the well expected cliches. The pretty young woman found dead. The non-white female detective Antoinette Conway who’s subjected to petty bullying and nasty manipulations by her superiors. Her colleague Stephen Moran who we don’t know if he’s with her, or with the gang.

Contrary to her earlier books I suspected the outcome quite early on. 

In all her books Tana French is brilliant in portraying character; her dialogue is scintillating. The Trespasser is no exception.

Why do I read? To learn something new. To gain a new perspective. To be entertained. Inspired. To guide my thoughts into an as yet unexplored direction. The Trespasser is an uncomfortable read. Utterly believable in light of recent revelations of misogynist bullying in the police, defence force and other public and commercial workplaces. The insight into how Antoinette’s experiences make her paranoid, suspecting lies and manipulation at every corner. While she’s often right, the pain depicted is hard to digest.

This book takes me into a world I don’t want to know in too much detail – the struggles of women in a men’s world. In this book the pretty young woman who’s murdered, the bright, capable professional who is manipulated and undermined at every corner. Real life depiction that’s too uncomfortable to be enjoyed.  What I loved was the differentiation between being supported versus being rescued. ‘He doesn’t want to support me. He wants to rescue me.’ Followed by the contemplation that you ‘own’ the person you rescue, they are from now on indebted to you. I’d never considered that before, but - it makes perfect sense.

This is the one of Tana French’s books where I skipped 100-150 pages to just read the finishing pages. Yes I was right with my assumptions, who killed the young woman, who knew…

I think I might give Tana French a miss for a while – unless I can lay hand on her first novel…