Days of Feasting and Rejoicing

by David Bergen

In this brilliant existential portrayal of identity, David Bergen introduces Esther Maile, an expat American living in Thailand in a house rented by the richer, more popular Christine. While on holiday in Bali, Christine is caught by an ocean wave and drowns. Esther rushes to save her, but in the chaos that ensues, the police arrive and confuse Esther for Christine.

For someone who would prefer to be anyone but herself, this is the perfect solution — no matter the consequences. When a local Thai police captain, Net Wantok, begins to investigate Christine’s death and seeks out Esther, he is caught between his curiosity — she is charming, evasive, and flirtatious — and the awareness that people around Esther are disappearing. Sensing danger, Esther acts out of fear and pulls the one person who loves her into her perilous world.

Bergen’s mesmerizing psychological drama hums with expatriate gossip, sexual tension, unexpected violence, a passion for food, and a woman who, seemingly unhindered by questions of truth or morality, hints at the darkness in all of us.

Genres: Fiction, Canada

224 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication May 12, 2026

About the author

Born in Port Edward, British Columbia, author David Bergen worked as a writer and high school English teacher in Winnipeg, Manitoba, before gaining a great deal of recognition in Canada when his novel The Time In Between won the 2005 Scotiabank Giller Prize, one of Canada's most prestigious literary awards. The novel also received a starred review in Kirkus Reviews and was longlisted for the 2007 IMPAC Award.

Bergen's debut novel, A Year of Lesser, was a New York Times Notable Book, and a winner of the McNally Robinson Book of the Year award in 1997. His 2002 novel The Case of Lena S. was a finalist for the Governor General's Award for English language fiction, and won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award. It was also a finalist for the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction.

Additionally, Bergen has received the 1993 John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer, and the 2000 Canadian Literary Award for Short Story.

In 2008, he published his fifth novel, The Retreat, which was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and which won the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction.

Bergen currently resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba with his family.

Reviews

[CanadianReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5

I’ve read and liked several of Bergen’s novels. While he has considerable range as a novelist, this work felt like quite a departure. A darkly compelling, very uneasy, and quick read it may be, but it’s ultimately an unsatisfying one.

[Virginia · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK so first question - did the entity that wrote the blurb above actually read the book? My experience of it wasn't in any way linked to anything like that. I finished this last night and it's been percolating in my brain in a rancid way and I need to spew. This book felt like a male author getting a bent kick out of watching two women at odds with each other, without having any clue how women think or act or respond. Both Esther and Christine are cyphers in every way, and we're never given a reason or explanation for why they act the way they do. Esther makes radical, irrational decisions out of the blue, I guess for the entertainment of the author, because I didn't find them entertaining. I thought at first this would be a Patricia Highsmith turn-around - she seems to have written mostly about male characters who act out in odd or unexpected ways - but here it's more like watching a shadow puppet theatre. About the only sensuous, emotional aspect of the book is around food. And what does the title mean? It indicates to me that a wedding - with its "days of feasting and rejoicing" - is preferable to living and acting independently. Because clearly women have only 2 options to choose from, and can't seems to make wise decisions on their own? How narrow and sad. Giving this 2 1/2 stars.

[Stephanie H · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an unsettling read. Esther was an interesting character whose motives still remain hidden even by the end of the book. I’m really not sure how I felt about this one. It was well written and a page turner, but I’m not loving the end of it I guess. I’m not sure if I would have liked a few more pages or a different ending entirely. Either way, I believe Bergen was going for unsettling and he achieved it.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just couldn’t get into this book. I think my problem was the main character was very unpredictable and many of her actions seemed abrupt and unrealistic. I did however enjoy the Thai setting, it took me back to my travels of this beautiful country.

Thank you Gooselane for this complimentary copy.

[Michael]

My conversation with Bergen discussing the book here:
https://umfm.com/programming/broadcas...

[Rebecca Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different than my usual read but an enjoyable shorter book! Will check out other books by this author.

[Barry Cull · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Bergen tells the story of Esther Maille, an American expat vacationing with Christine a new friend from Winnipeg with whom she shares a duplex in Bali. Over time Esther rehearses taking on Christine's identity by wearing her clothes when she is not around. When Christine drowns, Esther completes the metamorphosis and assumes Christine's identity.

Esther goes to extraordinary lengths to more fully become Christine over time. When Christine's brother in Canada becomes suspicious about her disappearance and flies to Bali, he too goes missing. The fact that two people have gone missing catches the suspicion of detective Net Wantoc, a troubled man, whose daughter went missing at age seventeen, and whose wife suffers from MS.

Christine's boyfriend, Chai, is charmed by Esther to help in the disposal of Christine's brother, and he becomes implicated in the process. And so begins the chase to discover what involvement Esther has in the disappearance of two people.

The novel is interspersed with details about Thai culture and its food, so much so that I am tempted to make a mango curry from a family recipe handed down by my grandmother from when she accompanied my step-grandfather in his role as an engineer in Indonesia during the 1960s.

The novel is a suspenseful psychological thriller that explores the mind of a deeply untroubled psychopath.

[Djj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patricia Highsmith and in particular Tom Ripley.

I wanted to get that out of the way as no review here mentions either and this is so clearly an homage to Highsmith and the Ripley novels, in particular The Talented Mr. Ripley, no cogent analysis of the book can exclude those references. He even mentions The Price of Salt.

Esther is a devious creation, as devious as Ripley, though perhaps a little more self delusional. She's a young American woman who has glommed onto a Christine, a wealthy Canadian, in Thailand, but Christine has grown tired of Esther and asks her to move out of her home south of Bangkok. However on a trip to Bali, tragedy occurs and Esther soon takes Christine's place in the world.

It's a great little book and extremely dark. I've not read anything else by Bergen so perhaps this is a big departure and people are disappointed? But he's both nailed Highsmith's tone while making the story his own. Esther is not likeable, but she is true to her nature even if she is still figuring it out.

[Enid Wray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely a slow burn… and, surprisingly, I found myself less “offended” by Esther than perhaps I should have been.

Certainly there are layers upon layers here - for multiple characters.

Equally, there are holes - in Esther’s actions - that you could drive a Mack Truck through and that leave you gobsmacked at the incompetence of both she and of the detective, Net Wantok.

I’m not sure though that I was entirely satisfied by the time I finished - not that I have to be satisfied! But maybe it’s just the way the world works?

3.5 rounded up to 4

[Zilla Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not what I expected of this book or this author: but that’s a good thing. David Bergen has an incredible range. One thing that is consistent between this book and some of his other work is that he beautifully describes Asian landscapes and people, from the perspective of an outsider, but one with a true love for the area, told in a way that envelops and immerses the reader in the locale. This book is set in Thailand, and follows Esther Maile, a woman from the US who is there to teach English and travel. At the beginning of the novel, Esther seems bland and aimless, but Bergen takes us through her unraveling into murder and deception.

Esther is both exceptionally stupid and highly manipulative. Although she is the villain of the story, I found myself rooting for her, with the uncomfortable realization that David Bergen had uncovered a little part of me that I don’t like to confront - the mark of a superior writer. Bergen doesn’t do a deep dive into her psyche and background, but he gives enough information to understand her. So much of life is circumstantial, and one decision impacts the next and the next. I like how he as a male writer doesn’t treat a female killer with kid gloves, nor does he go overboard in having her flaunt her sexuality - though it certainly is a factor at times.

This was a fast paced read and I could not put this book down until I was done. It is a real sensual experience, and, in keeping with the title, there are many meals described that had my nose tingling and mouth watering. If you like Thai food, your next stop after finishing this book will be Skip the Dishes or Door Dash.

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gender-flipped retellings of well-known works are all the rage these days, and Bergen jumps on the bandwagon rather nicely with what's essentially a tale of a female Ripley.

Esther Maile isn't a particularly talented Ms. Ripley, unless you count her knack for languages. But she manages to fall into murder and pretending to be other people all the same. She's a murky kind of protagonist, with not a lot of interiority to explain herself. The most that can be gleamed is that she's sexually repressed and potentially a lesbian. And yet, her trajectory is oddly compelling.
It's likely down to the author's writing style, which features short, simple brushstrokes creating fairly complex canvases. The kind of style that has the immediacy to pull the reader in. Even though there isn't a lot of interiority for any of the characters, really, it is cleverly implied.

There is also the matter of location as a character, which Bergen does very well with mainly Thailand and some Bali. The exotic otherness of the places serves the story nicely, highlighting the isolation of the North American characters.
I'm not sure if I've ever read the author, but I'd be interested to check out more of his work based on this book.

All in all, an entertaining journey to the other side of the world and into the mind of a psychopath. With a lovely, subtle nod to the original Ripley in the end.
Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/

[Richard L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably a 4-star read, but "rounding up" to 5 stars for entirely subjective (and probably specious) reasons.

(Nb. My first experience with this author.)

Barely 200 pages in length, this is a tightly wound tale, told in coldly efficient prose.

The main character is a wicked little piece of work. (That is a compliment.)

Always alone, self-contained yet needful, driven by desire but not quite ruled by it, seemingly cold-blooded but often sympathetic, equal parts repellent and compelling, endlessly watchable.

It may feel like the story ends too soon, too abruptly. But it probably ends at the right moment. We may think that we want to see more; we would probably regret it.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

very creepy. well written, but disturbing

[Marilyn Metcalfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel quite badly but I just did not get this book in relation to either the title or his other books that I have read. I was either on the edge of my seat or wanting him to get to the point or fascinated by the main character. The concept of becoming someone else was interesting.

[Mike Broderick · Rating 4 out of 5]

You find yourself reading this thinking that she is the dumbest person alive (ie. Did not even need to be worried about being implicated in the drowning), to increasing her level of criminal activity and literally the dumbest criminal ever.


I have no concerns about this not being set in Canada, I think that her ability to meld into the community and get away from being implicated was predicated upon her being abroad. The inability for the family to push sooner for answers was because they were abroad.



I wasn't as disappointed in the end. I do not want to give anything away......so I will leave it at the fact that the ending was okay for me. I like the comment above that it reminded you of The Talented Mr. Ripley, I see that. As I said, it also reminded me of She's a Lamb (I actually want to go back and give that one a higher grade too).



The food descriptions were not my thing but I did not mind them......they fit in the story.