Elysiana
Non-series
Chris Knopf
Review: The lives of a large cast of characters intersect in random and wonderful ways during the summer of 1969 on a (fictional) barrier island off the coast of southern New Jersey in Elysiana, a stand-alone novel by Chris Knopf, author of two mystery series set in the Hamptons.
The central character, if indeed only one could be named, is Gwendalynn Anders, a young woman who arrives on Elysiana not by design, not sure exactly how she got there -- a convertible, two guys, some drugs and lots of beer were involved -- but sure she doesn't want to return home. Desperate for cash, she meets a guy on the beach and offers to clean the house he shares with three other guys. And so begins the expanding network of interpersonal relationships that form the backbone of this novel as events unfold over a period of several months. The timeline isn't strictly chronological, as related concurrent episodes are recounted separately.
Marketed as a thriller, the primary element of suspense comes from the reader not knowing -- but caring and deeply committed to discovering -- what happens next. Everyone has a personal attachment to the island, even newcomer Gwendalynn, and the setting itself quickly emerges as a significant "character", as much as any of its residents. When a massive hurricane heads for Elysiana towards the end of the book, the vulnerability of the island seems almost personal.
There's a real sense -- and appeal -- of the film American Graffiti to this book. Both share a similar story structure, the crossing of lives at the end of what is perceived to be a life-changing event. In the film, it's the transition from high school to college, a one last hurrah on a summer's eve. In Elysiana, it's the end of a turbulent decade, a transition, as it were, from one generation to another. It's an interesting departure for Knopf, one that readers will be glad he took.
Acknowledgment: The Permanent Press provided an ARC of Elysiana for this review.
Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Selected reviews of other mysteries by this author …
Short Squeeze
Minotaur Books (Hardcover), January 2010
ISBN-13: 9780312551230; ISBN-10: 0312551231
Bad Bird
Minotaur Books (Hardcover), February 2011
ISBN-13: 9780312551247; ISBN-10: 031255124X
Location(s) referenced in Elysiana: New Jersey
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Elysiana by Chris Knopf
Publisher: The Permanent Press
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-10: 1-57962-198-8
ISBN-13: 978-1-57962-198-8
Publication Date: May 2010
List Price: $28.00
Synopsis (from the publisher): Gwendalynn Anders, a mid-Western girl who's never seen the ocean, wonders what was in that joint she smoked a week before waking up on Elysiana, and why it feels like the trip will last the entire summer of 1969.
Jack Halcyon, living atop an abandoned twenty-story hotel, wonders how he's able to ponder the incongruities of life after leaving a big chunk of his brain at the scene of an accident.
Borough Council President Norman Harlan wonders what cruel God put him on an equal footing with Avery Volpe, the fearsome Captain of the Beach Patrol.
Twelve miles long and a mile wide, Elysiana is an island off the coast of New Jersey sitting astride the convergence of powerful fault lines social, political, and existential. It s a place of beauty and insanity, shared by the angelic and profane. Where cops, criminals, prodigies, and the promiscuous find themselves at the haphazard mercy of a lunatic providence.
Other players include a globe-trotting whiz kid, an Italo-Hispanic crime boss, a surfing aesthete and his vulgar roommate, a career car stereo thief, and a seven-year-old girl who's probably spent too much time with the dead bodies in the dunes.
This is a story that could have only happened on the Jersey Shore during the summer of 69. A time when the social fabric was tearing apart, in a place where that fabric had never been very well knit together.
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