Review: Saint X

by Alexis Schaitkin (Celadon/Macmillan, 2020)

This literary page-turner is brimming with psychological suspense and kept me guessing all the way to the surprising (and satisfying) conclusion. There are no saints here, only flawed humans struggling to come to grips with the past. Saint X refers to an island in the Caribbean. From the first pages, I fell into the flow of the story, wherein little sister Claire is barely 8 when her teenaged sis, Alison, disappears from an island holiday resort.

Schaitkin braids exquisite descriptions of setting and interior states-of-mind to deepen the narrative, which spans decades. Part omniscient narration and part first-person allows intimate access to vulnerable and flawed Claire (who changes her name to Emily). Years after Alison’s death, Claire/Emily is living in NYC, desperate to excavate the truth of why and how her complicated, impulsive sister died. A chance encounter with an islander, Clive—who has his own secret history to grapple with—changes the scope and stakes of suspense. But truth is complicated, blurred by racial tension, secrets, unresolved grief, and capricious memory. A fabulous debut novel, sure to please fans of twisty, literary thrillers and unreliable narrators.