The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

I liked the book. I kept wondering about the Jay Gatsby and Buchanan family "involvement" in the story however! Having read "The Great Gatsby" and knowing it is a work of fiction, I didn't really know what to think. At one point, I decided to just "go with it" and figured that the author was adding a story to an already fictitious tale - like Sena Jetter Naslund did with "Ahab's Wife", using a character from "Moby Dick" to tell her story.

Truth vs. fiction does get a little blurry. Her friends Talia and Whit; her boyfriend David; her job working with the homeless and her boss; her mother: these were Laurel's real life. I would guess every single thing and person related to Jay Gatsby, the entire Buchanan family, and her "informants" re these fictional people were made up. It's amazing how imaginative a mind can be. (Think "A Beautiful Mind" too). 

I am glad that the author told us about the "double bind". It is perfectly understandable to me how a person can deeply bury a tragic event in their life for a number of years, but then have it surface again when faced with a "trigger event" - in this case Laurel seeing the picture of the biker in the Underhill. 

Laurel is always trying to protect herself. She makes up David having two daughters to "explain" why he is not more invested in her and their relationship. She actually doesn't need an older man who is not committed to her in her life. She needs someone like Whit who genuinely cares for her and wants to be with her! I hope as she works with her psychiatrist she will understand that some day. :-)

The one thing that bothered me constantly was the author's use of "titles" instead of names throughout the book! Laurel was referred to as the "social worker" numerous times and it drove me nuts! Then, when I figured out what was really going on - that Laurel was "writing the story" a lot of the time, I wondered if it was her that was referring to herself as the "social worker". I would actually have to go back to the book to figure that out.

Wendy's Rating: ****