William Deverell is a well-known Canadian lawyer and writer (he’s also the creator of the popular TV show Street Legal). His 1997 novel Trial of Passion is set in British Columbia. It tells the story of Arthur Beauchamp, a 63-year-old burnt-out lawyer who’s looking to leave all his emotional baggage behind and start a new life in retirement. He’s a likeable fellow with a troubled past. Impotent and trapped in a loveless marriage, estranged from an emotionally-distant daughter, Arthur fell into the pit of alcoholism. He used the demands of a busy law practice as an excuse to avoid dealing with relationships. For forty years, Arthur’s whole identity consisted of being a lawyer. He was sure of himself only in showy court performances. In the early years of his career, those court performances were skilful and professional, but toward the end, he showed up in court drunk and boastful. Under the layers of bravado, nothing was going right. By the time the action starts, Arthur is dry and coming to grips with his failed emotional life. He leaves his family and quits his law practice. Arthur moves to a small island off BC’s coast. There, he gradually parts with the hallmarks of his former life – a fancy car, expensive suits, an ample paunch. He meets and comes to respect the island’s eccentric residents. Arthur takes up gardening and returns to his classical roots, reading and reciting poetry and Latin. A down-to-earth widowed neighbour rekindles his romantic feelings. But all does not remain tranquil. A law professor is charged with raping a student and Arthur is coaxed back to Vancouver to defend him. While preparing for and running the trial, Arthur has some weak moments and is in danger of backsliding into his former life. However, his determination to change prevails. This time, Arthur manages to maintain a balance between career and life, and he stops
confusing the two. At the end of the book, Arthur returns to the island to his new love and his new life. In this novel, the law pokes its nose in only occasionally, and not very realistically. The hillbilly courtroom on the island provides some funny scenes. Deverell makes a few interesting comments about the admissibility of evidence during the professor’s trial. The trial has a dramatic but totally non-legal ending when the complainant gives evidence under hypnosis. You’re not going to learn much about the relationship between law and life, or the workings of justice, by reading this book. You will, however, be engaged by the story of one man’s journey from self-deception to self-awareness.