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Trespass
An electrifying novel about disputed territory, sibling love, and devastating revenge from the celebrated author of The Road Home and Restoration.
In a silent valley in southern France stands an isolated stone farmhouse, the Mas Lunel. Aramon, the owner, is so haunted by his violent past that he's become incapable of all meaningful action, letting his hunting dogs starve and his land go to ruin. Meanwhile, his sister Audrun, alone in her modern bungalow within sight of the Mas Lunel, dreams of exacting retribution for the unspoken betrayals that have blighted her life. Into this closed world comes Anthony Verey, a wealthy but disillusioned antiques dealer from London. When he sets his sights on the Mas, a frightening and unstoppable series of consequences is set in motion.
"Rose Tremain's writing is so good, she makes us hear English anew," writes the San Francisco Chronicle. This powerful and unsettling new work reveals yet another dimension to Tremain's extraordinary imagination.
In a silent valley in southern France stands an isolated stone farmhouse, the Mas Lunel. Aramon, the owner, is so haunted by his violent past that he's become incapable of all meaningful action, letting his hunting dogs starve and his land go to ruin. Meanwhile, his sister Audrun, alone in her modern bungalow within sight of the Mas Lunel, dreams of exacting retribution for the unspoken betrayals that have blighted her life. Into this closed world comes Anthony Verey, a wealthy but disillusioned antiques dealer from London. When he sets his sights on the Mas, a frightening and unstoppable series of consequences is set in motion.
"Rose Tremain's writing is so good, she makes us hear English anew," writes the San Francisco Chronicle. This powerful and unsettling new work reveals yet another dimension to Tremain's extraordinary imagination.
253 pages, Hardcover
First published March 4, 2010
191 people are currently reading
2483 people want to read
About the author
Rose Tremain
77 books1,105 followersDame Rose Tremain is an acclaimed English novelist and short story writer, celebrated for her distinctive approach to historical fiction and her focus on characters who exist on the margins of society. Educated at the Sorbonne and the University of East Anglia, where she later taught creative writing and served as Chancellor, Tremain has produced a rich body of work spanning novels, short stories, plays, and memoir. Influenced by writers such as William Golding and Gabriel García Márquez, her narratives often blend psychological depth with lyrical prose.
Among her many honors, she has received the Whitbread Award for Music and Silence, the Orange Prize for The Road Home, and the National Jewish Book Award for The Gustav Sonata. She was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Restoration and has been recognized multiple times by the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. In 2020, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to literature. Tremain lives in Norfolk and continues to write, with her recent novel Absolutely and Forever shortlisted for the 2024 Walter Scott Prize.
Among her many honors, she has received the Whitbread Award for Music and Silence, the Orange Prize for The Road Home, and the National Jewish Book Award for The Gustav Sonata. She was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Restoration and has been recognized multiple times by the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. In 2020, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to literature. Tremain lives in Norfolk and continues to write, with her recent novel Absolutely and Forever shortlisted for the 2024 Walter Scott Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 622 reviews
February 10, 2017
I bought Rose Tremain’s Trespass in a pound shop. Actually, it was bought for me by a person who had never been to Poundland before (or so he claimed). A pound for a new, shiny hardback is not a bad deal at all.
I read this book aloud to the book-giver and I thought he enjoyed it, even if he fell asleep occasionally or made fun of my accent. Sadly, I had to finish it by myself as the aforementioned book-giver no longer speaks to me (quite rightly so).*
It is possible that my heart wasn’t in it, or maybe Tremain’s heart wasn’t it but I really felt like “Trespass” lacked soul. On paper it was perfect – almost too perfect. French rural setting, a rich cast of diverse characters all equipped with their own emotional back-story. The villains had redeeming characteristics and those who we were supposed to sympathise with sometimes made it hard for us to do so, so obviously an effort was made to make these people three-dimensional. Plot followed a tried and tested formula, starting with all of our characters doing something to trigger the events that will eventually culminate in a very correct climax, all wrapped up and tied with a bow. The writing was also very accomplished; it had the perfect ratio of atmospheric descriptions, emotional dialogue and vivid flashbacks. The chapters were snappy and the plot bumbled along at a very precise speed, that was just right, not too slow, as not to bore the reader but neither crudely fast.
I can just imagine the perfect reader of this book. She gets up at 7:00am and has her coffee and a toast, while reading the newspaper. Her nail polish is never chipped and she leaves the house at 8:10 sharp every day. Her make-up is impeccable but very natural. She has worked for the same company for the last seven years and now she is the head of marketing. She has many friends and a busy social life but she also finds the time for an evening with tea in a proper teacup and a book. She goes to the bookshop once a month and buys the recent books whose reviews she read in the paper. She read ‘Trespass’ in 2010 and she thought it was an excellent story of familial transgressions and loneliness with gothic undertones.
I am just not this person. I have moved house about three or four times in the last six months. I have no actual career to speak of. My laptop resides on the chair, while dirty plates reside on my desk. I sit on my bed and most of my stuff is permanently in boxes as I will be moving again. I pay my rent in cash and there is an interesting stain on my wall that’s either wine or blood. I buy books in poundshop or sometimes I find them on the sidewalk. I'm always a few years behind with what I'm supposed to be reading. I go from hermit phases when I try to leave the house as little as possible to party-binges. Sometimes I’m very rude to my best friends and often when people call me to ask how it is going I pretend it’s bad connection and hang up. Some people think I’m loveable, personable and sweet but they don’t know me very well. This book and I were just not a good match. It was just too neat.
* - The giver of the book is speaking to me again. Joy.
I read this book aloud to the book-giver and I thought he enjoyed it, even if he fell asleep occasionally or made fun of my accent. Sadly, I had to finish it by myself as the aforementioned book-giver no longer speaks to me (quite rightly so).*
It is possible that my heart wasn’t in it, or maybe Tremain’s heart wasn’t it but I really felt like “Trespass” lacked soul. On paper it was perfect – almost too perfect. French rural setting, a rich cast of diverse characters all equipped with their own emotional back-story. The villains had redeeming characteristics and those who we were supposed to sympathise with sometimes made it hard for us to do so, so obviously an effort was made to make these people three-dimensional. Plot followed a tried and tested formula, starting with all of our characters doing something to trigger the events that will eventually culminate in a very correct climax, all wrapped up and tied with a bow. The writing was also very accomplished; it had the perfect ratio of atmospheric descriptions, emotional dialogue and vivid flashbacks. The chapters were snappy and the plot bumbled along at a very precise speed, that was just right, not too slow, as not to bore the reader but neither crudely fast.
I can just imagine the perfect reader of this book. She gets up at 7:00am and has her coffee and a toast, while reading the newspaper. Her nail polish is never chipped and she leaves the house at 8:10 sharp every day. Her make-up is impeccable but very natural. She has worked for the same company for the last seven years and now she is the head of marketing. She has many friends and a busy social life but she also finds the time for an evening with tea in a proper teacup and a book. She goes to the bookshop once a month and buys the recent books whose reviews she read in the paper. She read ‘Trespass’ in 2010 and she thought it was an excellent story of familial transgressions and loneliness with gothic undertones.
I am just not this person. I have moved house about three or four times in the last six months. I have no actual career to speak of. My laptop resides on the chair, while dirty plates reside on my desk. I sit on my bed and most of my stuff is permanently in boxes as I will be moving again. I pay my rent in cash and there is an interesting stain on my wall that’s either wine or blood. I buy books in poundshop or sometimes I find them on the sidewalk. I'm always a few years behind with what I'm supposed to be reading. I go from hermit phases when I try to leave the house as little as possible to party-binges. Sometimes I’m very rude to my best friends and often when people call me to ask how it is going I pretend it’s bad connection and hang up. Some people think I’m loveable, personable and sweet but they don’t know me very well. This book and I were just not a good match. It was just too neat.
* - The giver of the book is speaking to me again. Joy.
March 2, 2017
Rating: 2.5* of five
The Publisher Says: In a silent valley in southern France stands an isolated stone farmhouse, the Mas Lunel. Aramon, the owner, is so haunted by his violent past that he's become incapable of all meaningful action, letting his hunting dogs starve and his land go to ruin. Meanwhile, his sister Audrun, alone in her modern bungalow within sight of the Mas Lunel, dreams of exacting retribution for the unspoken betrayals that have blighted her life. Into this closed world comes Anthony Verey, a wealthy but disillusioned antiques dealer from London. When he sets his sights on the Mas, a frightening and unstoppable series of consequences is set in motion.
My Review: Two pairs of aging siblings, all damaged goods from various sorts of parental abuse and neglect, collide in one of France's most beautiful areas...the Cévennes mountain range...and manage to make a complete hash of their own, their friends', and even perfect strangers' lives while imagining themselves to be acting in accord with the highest and best principles of mankind. Nothing good comes of anyone's best-intentioned acts because no one has learned what good intentions look like. Tremain explores the results of repression and suppression to their logical extremes in this book.
There are no new stories, only new ways of telling them. This isn't even a new way of telling an old, tired, and frankly quite offensive story. I will not scruple from spoilers from this sentence forward. Stop reading now if you want, despite my urgent advice, to read this tiresome bilge.
Audrun Lunel is a slow child, youngest of her family, and probably not the daughter of the man who raised and molested her, as she was born very shortly after the end of WWII and her mother was alone...well, anyway, incest is about more than genetics. Her brother, at the very least her half-brother that is, molested her too, all after her saintly mama dies. This is a story I simply do not want to read again, ever, since I survived incestuous abuse by my mother and don't care to see the culturally acceptable image of men as abusers continue unchallenged.
Anthony Verey, English poofter and antiques dealer, is in thrall to his memories of his glammy mommy, Lavender, a South African transplant to England, and a woman without a maternal bone in her body. (My mother was Southern, but that's a good description of her, too.) His fat lesbian older sister comes in for most of the verbal abuse his mother can deal out (same with my family), because the sister is not a fashion accessory child. The sister works hard to protect little Anthony, and sets up a lifetime pattern of dependency.
In the end, Anthony is shot by Audrun for being a rosbif carpetbagger, after which she frames her disgusting older brother for the crime. Yay. Creepy queerboy is dead, not before killing his sister's relationship to a perfectly nice if deadly dull woman, and nasty abuser boy goes to prison.
Which is where I want to send these goddamned woman novelists who, when they are absent an idea, think it's perfectly okay to portray their fellow women as victimvictimvictim of horrible, slimy men. It's shouting down the well to say this, but do you not see, Womankind, that this is INSULTING TO *YOU*?!? No woman I know...not one, without exception...is a victimvictimvictim by virtue of her womanliness. Each and every one of the women I know is strong and capable. I resent on their behalf the unquestioned rightness of this kind of claptrap built on the false dichotomy between male abuser and female abused.
Bah. Rotten stuff.
The Publisher Says: In a silent valley in southern France stands an isolated stone farmhouse, the Mas Lunel. Aramon, the owner, is so haunted by his violent past that he's become incapable of all meaningful action, letting his hunting dogs starve and his land go to ruin. Meanwhile, his sister Audrun, alone in her modern bungalow within sight of the Mas Lunel, dreams of exacting retribution for the unspoken betrayals that have blighted her life. Into this closed world comes Anthony Verey, a wealthy but disillusioned antiques dealer from London. When he sets his sights on the Mas, a frightening and unstoppable series of consequences is set in motion.
My Review: Two pairs of aging siblings, all damaged goods from various sorts of parental abuse and neglect, collide in one of France's most beautiful areas...the Cévennes mountain range...and manage to make a complete hash of their own, their friends', and even perfect strangers' lives while imagining themselves to be acting in accord with the highest and best principles of mankind. Nothing good comes of anyone's best-intentioned acts because no one has learned what good intentions look like. Tremain explores the results of repression and suppression to their logical extremes in this book.
There are no new stories, only new ways of telling them. This isn't even a new way of telling an old, tired, and frankly quite offensive story. I will not scruple from spoilers from this sentence forward. Stop reading now if you want, despite my urgent advice, to read this tiresome bilge.
Audrun Lunel is a slow child, youngest of her family, and probably not the daughter of the man who raised and molested her, as she was born very shortly after the end of WWII and her mother was alone...well, anyway, incest is about more than genetics. Her brother, at the very least her half-brother that is, molested her too, all after her saintly mama dies. This is a story I simply do not want to read again, ever, since I survived incestuous abuse by my mother and don't care to see the culturally acceptable image of men as abusers continue unchallenged.
Anthony Verey, English poofter and antiques dealer, is in thrall to his memories of his glammy mommy, Lavender, a South African transplant to England, and a woman without a maternal bone in her body. (My mother was Southern, but that's a good description of her, too.) His fat lesbian older sister comes in for most of the verbal abuse his mother can deal out (same with my family), because the sister is not a fashion accessory child. The sister works hard to protect little Anthony, and sets up a lifetime pattern of dependency.
In the end, Anthony is shot by Audrun for being a rosbif carpetbagger, after which she frames her disgusting older brother for the crime. Yay. Creepy queerboy is dead, not before killing his sister's relationship to a perfectly nice if deadly dull woman, and nasty abuser boy goes to prison.
Which is where I want to send these goddamned woman novelists who, when they are absent an idea, think it's perfectly okay to portray their fellow women as victimvictimvictim of horrible, slimy men. It's shouting down the well to say this, but do you not see, Womankind, that this is INSULTING TO *YOU*?!? No woman I know...not one, without exception...is a victimvictimvictim by virtue of her womanliness. Each and every one of the women I know is strong and capable. I resent on their behalf the unquestioned rightness of this kind of claptrap built on the false dichotomy between male abuser and female abused.
Bah. Rotten stuff.
March 4, 2011
Trespass by Rose Tremain is classic Tremain: beautifully written, poignant and painful. The focus is two sets of relationships and the cataclysmic intersection: a British brother and sister, both gay and successful and a French brother and sister, both darkly disturbed, wealthy by birth but unsuccessful with their lives. These characters and their relationships are strongly developed. But one of the pleasures of the book are the number of subsidiary characters who are also fully developed and powerfully present in the story without distracting from the main story. In particular, the story of the child Melodie artfully frames the narrative.
One of the things I liked about this book was that despite the presence of many bitter and/or disturbed, destructive people. the book held on to a meaningful sense of hope about the world, beauty, and human life. The characters in Trespass are vivid and sometimes downright awful but they are not cardboard figures that can be simply dismissed. Even the children, including the bullied Melodie while being (to me) generally unlikable, show glimmers of beauty and potential to growth. Prison can be, in some ways at least, a place of growth and loss can both cripple and release, sometimes both at the same time.
What I like best in Tremain's writing, aside from the beauty of her prose, is its dark complexity.
Recommended: for all those who enjoy the exploration of the darker side of all of us, and of family and relationships with the tool of prose that is graceful and precise.
Summary: Not a "happy" book by any means but not a book that is a foreclosure of hope for humanity.
One of the things I liked about this book was that despite the presence of many bitter and/or disturbed, destructive people. the book held on to a meaningful sense of hope about the world, beauty, and human life. The characters in Trespass are vivid and sometimes downright awful but they are not cardboard figures that can be simply dismissed. Even the children, including the bullied Melodie while being (to me) generally unlikable, show glimmers of beauty and potential to growth. Prison can be, in some ways at least, a place of growth and loss can both cripple and release, sometimes both at the same time.
What I like best in Tremain's writing, aside from the beauty of her prose, is its dark complexity.
Recommended: for all those who enjoy the exploration of the darker side of all of us, and of family and relationships with the tool of prose that is graceful and precise.
Summary: Not a "happy" book by any means but not a book that is a foreclosure of hope for humanity.
July 26, 2019
Doesn’t every love need to create for itself its own protected space? And if so, why don’t lovers understand better the damage trespass can do?A brooding, slow-moving, intoxicating novel about two sets of aging brothers and sisters—the close-knit British pair Veronica and Anthony, and the at-daggers French pair Audrun and Aramon—whose paths slowly intertwine, entangle, and irrevocably change the course of everyone’s lives. Tremain is not afraid to explore the darkest corners of love and hate, in families and in romantic relationships both, as well as all the emotions and grey areas in between; there are some tough topics unraveled in these pages, almost in slow motion and in very cinematic language—in nearly pitch-perfect counterpoint, giving the reader insight into very different minds facing the same pasts and presents in wholly dissonant ways, in almost poetic tune with the ebbing and flowing of the siblings’ shared season spent in the French countryside, and with the ebbing and flowing of life itself. The way Tremain is able to straddle various genres and themes—psychological fiction, mystery, crime, family drama, inheritance laws, art—and never pigeonhole herself also shows her immense skill, especially with the weight of all she juggles here and yet is able to render very quiet, very still, and almost claustrophobic, like a chamber play or a Bergman film.
March 2, 2017
Excellent atmospheric gothic with an undertone of real melancholy about blighted childhoods and the way they can haunt into adulthood. Tremain is an extraordinarily readable writer -- this is completely different than the other book of her's I've read (the Road Home), except that both featured characters that suck you in, realized settings and smooth prose. Here, Tremain takes on two pairs of 60 something siblings who couldn't be more different, Audrun and Aramon, French peasants living on the verge of dire poverty on their ancestral land in the south of France (and dealing with a past that includes the War, collaboration, hunger, and factory work), and Anthony and Veronica, respectively gay and lesbian, upper-crust English newcomers to France, an antiques dealer and a garden designer. (In other words, Anthony and Veronica are the "gentrifying" other side of the looking glass to Aramon and Audrun's connection to their old house, old things, and cherished agricultural land).
Although none of the characters (the main characters also include Veronica's self-centered partner, Kitty, a bad landscape painter) are likable -- indeed, some are quite repugnant -- all are well realized, and the story hurtles on, extremely readable without ever being facile. It has the gripping nature (and several elements) of a mystery or thriller, but it has a surprisingly touching ending that takes it quite out of genre fiction. In atmospheric menace it reminded me a great deal of Highsmith. (One of the best parts is the atmospheric role played by the rural South of France landscape -- the underbelly of this tourist heaven is on full display).
Quite close to be being a 5. More Tremain on my list!
Although none of the characters (the main characters also include Veronica's self-centered partner, Kitty, a bad landscape painter) are likable -- indeed, some are quite repugnant -- all are well realized, and the story hurtles on, extremely readable without ever being facile. It has the gripping nature (and several elements) of a mystery or thriller, but it has a surprisingly touching ending that takes it quite out of genre fiction. In atmospheric menace it reminded me a great deal of Highsmith. (One of the best parts is the atmospheric role played by the rural South of France landscape -- the underbelly of this tourist heaven is on full display).
Quite close to be being a 5. More Tremain on my list!
April 4, 2023
Dark mystery about two sets of sexagenarian siblings. Anthony works as an antique dealer in London. His sister, Veronica, is a garden designer living in southern France with her partner, Kitty. Aramon lives in the formerly grand Lunel family home, Mas Lunel, which he has neglected due to alcoholism. His sister, Audrun, lives alone in a bungalow on the Lunel property. When Anthony’s business declines, he visits Veronica in France, where he attempts to purchase the Lunel home. However, the deal falls through due to Audrun’s unsightly bungalow. Aramon resolves to evict his sister, which sets off a sequence of events that will alter all of the characters’ lives.
The first quarter of the book establishes these damaged (and rather unlikeable) characters and their personalities. Each character is haunted by childhood memories, which involve trespasses in one form or another. The last three-quarters is focused on the increasing tensions among the characters. It gradually becomes an engrossing mystery. Themes include rivalries, materialism, and revenge. I have read other books by Rose Tremain. My favorite is The Colour. I enjoy her lyrical writing style and the diverse subject matter she includes in her stories.
The first quarter of the book establishes these damaged (and rather unlikeable) characters and their personalities. Each character is haunted by childhood memories, which involve trespasses in one form or another. The last three-quarters is focused on the increasing tensions among the characters. It gradually becomes an engrossing mystery. Themes include rivalries, materialism, and revenge. I have read other books by Rose Tremain. My favorite is The Colour. I enjoy her lyrical writing style and the diverse subject matter she includes in her stories.
October 22, 2010
Rose Tremain remains one of my favorite authors. There is nothing flashy or false about the way she slowly dissects the lives of others, picking at scabs and uncovering hurts; revealing truths many of us have spent a lifetime trying to articulate. In
Trepass
, her latest novel, a British man in his later years is murdered in the French countryside. Tremain shows us, in her slow, graceful prose, how this may be the best possible outcome--for the man, and for his murderer.
Perhaps what I like best about Rose Tremain is the fearless way she puts her finger on the pulse of a story, and proceeds, with few extra words, to describe a world--a world we may not be familiar with, but peopled by those we know. We know them because they are us. She is not cruel, but she is unblinking. She sees, and she tells. She is sophisticated, and witty. Her prose is clear, uncluttered, and extraordinarily descriptive. She writes literature.
Perhaps what I like best about Rose Tremain is the fearless way she puts her finger on the pulse of a story, and proceeds, with few extra words, to describe a world--a world we may not be familiar with, but peopled by those we know. We know them because they are us. She is not cruel, but she is unblinking. She sees, and she tells. She is sophisticated, and witty. Her prose is clear, uncluttered, and extraordinarily descriptive. She writes literature.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 27, 2021
Have to leave this book unfinished, not happy about it because I was sure I would like it seeing that it takes place here in France and the author is quite reputable, but no, it is soooooo depressing, the characters are unsympathetic and I don't like the way the plot is going, it is bleak and gloomy and I can't find any redeeming qualities.
February 2, 2018
Like a Patricia Highsmith novel, but without the skin-crawling sensations or capri pants.
September 13, 2024
Trespass means 2 things: to encroach upon someone else’s land unlawfully, or to sin. Both of these definitions apply to this interesting book, which takes place in France. It involves two sets of siblings, one English, and one French. Their paths do ultimately cross. What they have in common is being parented by abusive,and sick people. Some of it was monstrous. How they each coped as adults is most interesting. I liked the descriptions of the beautiful area of France, and the seasonal changes, including the mistral.
3 1/2 stars rounded up.
3 1/2 stars rounded up.
February 21, 2022
2⭐ =Below Average
I was unsure how to rate this one, a two or a three stars. The writing style was decent but the storyline was really dark and quite disturbing at times .
It was set in France but I really couldn't picture this at all. All rather bleak,I'm afraid. I still kept turning those pages though.
I was unsure how to rate this one, a two or a three stars. The writing style was decent but the storyline was really dark and quite disturbing at times .
It was set in France but I really couldn't picture this at all. All rather bleak,I'm afraid. I still kept turning those pages though.
Read
November 11, 2010Okay I can't rate this novel I love the way Rose Tremain writes, her words and sentences. I was really liking the story until there was a scene I could nt get past, not sure this needed to be so graphically out there. Anyway it ruined the bok for me. Guess I'm just too much of a prude.
September 14, 2014
A masterfully told story. Beautiful descriptive language. Dark and disturbing subject matter. Deep with symbolism. I am amazed by this author's control and fearlessness.
August 15, 2020
Not bad for a summer read. Plenty of clichés, nothing wrong with that, as Reve wrote, but entertaining. And a satisfactory ending. I prefer ‘The Gustav Sonata’ with a much more original theme.
April 13, 2011
I so wanted to like this book. It sounded so promising. The first chapter was really very good and I was looking forward to the "frightening and unstoppable series of consequences" mentioned on the back of my paperback copy. Sadly, by the time we got to that point, I was totally and completely disenchanted by every single one of the characters including the isolated stone farmhouse in southern France, which is a bit of a character in itself... and, trust me, I am usually quite enchanted by isolated farmhouses in France.
I am not going to go into a summary of the story because you can get that from the other reviewers. What I will say is that Rose Tremain has a lovely way with words. Some of them were so beautiful that I found myself reading them several times before moving on:
"They both knew it was borrowed: the view of hills; even the sunsets and the clarity of the stars. Somewhere they knew it didn't belong to them. Because if you left your own country, if you left it late, and made your home in someone else's country, there was always a feeling that you were breaking an invisible law, always the irrational fear that, one day, some 'rightful owner' would arrive to take it all away, and you would be driven out..."
Basically this is a story of five (possibly more?) very 'broken' people.. broken by their pasts, by lost loves, by wasted opportunities, by childhood traumas, by abuse... all centered around a broken, uncared for farmhouse. Unfortunately, I just couldn't find any redeeming qualities in the characters and therefore, couldn't have cared less what happened to them.
Frankly, if the book had been any longer, I would have lost the will to live and wouldn't have finished it. Needless to say, I found myself quite relieved when it was over.
However, the use of language was lovely and I did find myself completely seduced by it at times... but not one I would recommend.
I am not going to go into a summary of the story because you can get that from the other reviewers. What I will say is that Rose Tremain has a lovely way with words. Some of them were so beautiful that I found myself reading them several times before moving on:
"They both knew it was borrowed: the view of hills; even the sunsets and the clarity of the stars. Somewhere they knew it didn't belong to them. Because if you left your own country, if you left it late, and made your home in someone else's country, there was always a feeling that you were breaking an invisible law, always the irrational fear that, one day, some 'rightful owner' would arrive to take it all away, and you would be driven out..."
Basically this is a story of five (possibly more?) very 'broken' people.. broken by their pasts, by lost loves, by wasted opportunities, by childhood traumas, by abuse... all centered around a broken, uncared for farmhouse. Unfortunately, I just couldn't find any redeeming qualities in the characters and therefore, couldn't have cared less what happened to them.
Frankly, if the book had been any longer, I would have lost the will to live and wouldn't have finished it. Needless to say, I found myself quite relieved when it was over.
However, the use of language was lovely and I did find myself completely seduced by it at times... but not one I would recommend.
November 23, 2010
I enjoyed reading this novel set in France with English ex-patriots and locals as primary characters. It combines character study of damaged individuals with a mystery and was a story that I really wanted to read and know the outcome. This is a new author and setting for me. I believe I will try more of Tremain's books.
November 22, 2010
Two things drew me to Rose Tremain’s latest novel, Trespass. One was the fact that it was set in the Cévennes mountains of the Central Massif (south central France, a region I know well), and the second is that it was described as being “very dark.” I love France and have spent many happy years there, and I love well-written “dark” books.
Trespass revolves around five middle aged characters: two French siblings, Audrun and Aramon, who share a secret past, an English garden designer and writer, Veronica, and her lover, a mediocre watercolorist, Kitty, as well as Veronica’s brother, Anthony Verey, a London antiques dealer in his middle sixties, who has come to France to try to salvage what’s left of his life. While Audrun and Aramon are more or less estranged, Veronica and Anthony have remained very close.
Aramon Lunel is an alcoholic (he has an over-fondness for pastis, “the” drink of the South of France), who is in poor health. His deceased father, Serge, left him a wonderful stone mas, the Mas Lunel, which Aramon hopes to sell to Anthony for 475,000 euros. The only problem is the fact that Audrun, who was left the surrounding woodland, has built a squalid modern bungalow on the boundary that separates her land from Aramon’s, thus destroying the otherwise perfect view and destroying one of Anthony’s requirements for any property he might buy – aesthetic beauty (solitude is the other requirement). Audrun, who steadfastly refuses to rebuild deeper in the forest, out of sight of the Mas Lunel, alienates Anthony, Aramon, and all the local estate agents, who feel they cannot sell the Mas Lunel until the dispute between brother and sister is settled. In the meantime, Anthony’s continued presence in Veronica’s and Kitty’s home is driving a wedge between the two women as Veronica chooses, with increasing frequency, to take Anthony’s side over Kitty’s in any dispute.
Although the Mas Lunel can definitely be restored to its former idyllic beauty, Aramon has not kept it up. Tremain writes, "...thousands of Cévenol people had seemed to forget their role as caretakers of the land. Diseases came to the trees. The vine terraces crumbled. The rivers silted up. And nobody seemed to notice or care." No, Aramon doesn’t care. He only cares about getting out. He has no love for the Mas Lunel or the land around it.
Audrun, however, living in her shabby bungalow, can’t bear to leave the land she loves despite the fact that the Mas Lunel holds many bitter memories for her. In fact, possessing the mas is the one thing that keeps Audrun going from day-to-day.
As would be expected, all of the main characters in Trespass have either trespassed on the rights of others or are planning to do so. Kitty, who realizes that the deep bond between Anthony and Veronica was formed long before she and Veronica even met struggles with the once carefree relationship she and her lover shared, a relationship that is now facing destruction from outside forces. "Doesn’t every love need to create for itself its own protected space? And if so, why don’t lovers understand better the damage trespass can do?"
Unlike Anthony and Veronica, Audrun and Aramon do not have the same kind of close bond. Though they both adored their mother, Bernadette, their father was abusive, and he encouraged Aramon to follow his example. Both brother and sister struggle to come to terms with their poisoned past, though they struggle in different ways.
Tremain does a good job of conjuring up the menace that lingers in the Cévenol no matter how bright the sun or how warm the temperature. I can’t really say I felt like I was in those forbidding and dangerous hills, but maybe that’s "just me." I can say that from the very first page, which couldn’t fail to pull any reader in, I knew that these characters were heading toward something terrible, though I wasn’t sure what. Tremain, thankfully, manages to sustain the suspense until the very last page, and even after we find out who the "bad guy" is and what he or she’s done, we don’t know if he or she will get away with it. The book reminded me a little of the works of Thomas Hardy – characters at the mercy of fate, people who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and strangely, Trespass, which was longlisted for 2010’s Man Booker Prize, reminds me a little of an earlier Man Booker winner, John Banville’s The Sea, though the setting and subject matter are entirely different.
Along the way, Tremain gives us a history lesson of the Cévennes. She tells us about the decline of the once thriving silk industry, the poor working conditions Audrun once endured in the underwear factory in Ruasse, the way the Cévenol people never hoped for more than what they already had. But it’s the sense of isolation, of ever-present menace that really captures the spirit of the area and adds to the darkness of this book. The woods of holm oak and beech and chestnut and pine are lovely, but Tremain never lets us forget that its loveliness is fraught with danger.
While I could feel sympathy for some of the characters in Trespass, I really didn’t like any of them, other than Mélodie, a little girl we meet in the first chapter and then don’t see again for about two hundred pages or so. I’m not surprised. They aren’t, by any means, likable people. They seem either blind to their faults or dismissive of them. But they did seem real. They were one hundred percent believable and so is their story.
The only quibble I have with this book is a maddening habit of Tremain’s to write "and now he, Anthony" or "now that she, Kitty...." For god’s sake, Ms. Tremain, we know who you’re talking about. The reference is distracting. Even though grammatically correct, this habit really got on my nerves and it reminded me of something a lesser writer would do, not someone of Tremain’s status.
Trespass isn’t my favorite Rose Tremain book, by any stretch. I don’t think it can hold a candle to the magnificent Music and Silence, which I read years ago and still think about often, but other than the above grammatical quibble, I really can’t point to any particular fault, though something holds it back from greatness.
In the end, Trespass is an engrossing and unsettling story, and by Tremain’s standards, it’s a dark one. Her characters are in search of redemption from their trespasses, and some of them are more active about pursuing that redemption than others. Is it worth it? Well, Tremain wisely leaves that for her readers to decide.
4.5/5
Recommended: Yes, to readers looking for a dark and atmospheric book. This isn’t a masterpiece, but it is a suspenseful and engrossing story, and one that’s extremely well crafted. And if you love books set in France, the Cévennes hills setting of Trespass will be a bonus.
Trespass revolves around five middle aged characters: two French siblings, Audrun and Aramon, who share a secret past, an English garden designer and writer, Veronica, and her lover, a mediocre watercolorist, Kitty, as well as Veronica’s brother, Anthony Verey, a London antiques dealer in his middle sixties, who has come to France to try to salvage what’s left of his life. While Audrun and Aramon are more or less estranged, Veronica and Anthony have remained very close.
Aramon Lunel is an alcoholic (he has an over-fondness for pastis, “the” drink of the South of France), who is in poor health. His deceased father, Serge, left him a wonderful stone mas, the Mas Lunel, which Aramon hopes to sell to Anthony for 475,000 euros. The only problem is the fact that Audrun, who was left the surrounding woodland, has built a squalid modern bungalow on the boundary that separates her land from Aramon’s, thus destroying the otherwise perfect view and destroying one of Anthony’s requirements for any property he might buy – aesthetic beauty (solitude is the other requirement). Audrun, who steadfastly refuses to rebuild deeper in the forest, out of sight of the Mas Lunel, alienates Anthony, Aramon, and all the local estate agents, who feel they cannot sell the Mas Lunel until the dispute between brother and sister is settled. In the meantime, Anthony’s continued presence in Veronica’s and Kitty’s home is driving a wedge between the two women as Veronica chooses, with increasing frequency, to take Anthony’s side over Kitty’s in any dispute.
Although the Mas Lunel can definitely be restored to its former idyllic beauty, Aramon has not kept it up. Tremain writes, "...thousands of Cévenol people had seemed to forget their role as caretakers of the land. Diseases came to the trees. The vine terraces crumbled. The rivers silted up. And nobody seemed to notice or care." No, Aramon doesn’t care. He only cares about getting out. He has no love for the Mas Lunel or the land around it.
Audrun, however, living in her shabby bungalow, can’t bear to leave the land she loves despite the fact that the Mas Lunel holds many bitter memories for her. In fact, possessing the mas is the one thing that keeps Audrun going from day-to-day.
As would be expected, all of the main characters in Trespass have either trespassed on the rights of others or are planning to do so. Kitty, who realizes that the deep bond between Anthony and Veronica was formed long before she and Veronica even met struggles with the once carefree relationship she and her lover shared, a relationship that is now facing destruction from outside forces. "Doesn’t every love need to create for itself its own protected space? And if so, why don’t lovers understand better the damage trespass can do?"
Unlike Anthony and Veronica, Audrun and Aramon do not have the same kind of close bond. Though they both adored their mother, Bernadette, their father was abusive, and he encouraged Aramon to follow his example. Both brother and sister struggle to come to terms with their poisoned past, though they struggle in different ways.
Tremain does a good job of conjuring up the menace that lingers in the Cévenol no matter how bright the sun or how warm the temperature. I can’t really say I felt like I was in those forbidding and dangerous hills, but maybe that’s "just me." I can say that from the very first page, which couldn’t fail to pull any reader in, I knew that these characters were heading toward something terrible, though I wasn’t sure what. Tremain, thankfully, manages to sustain the suspense until the very last page, and even after we find out who the "bad guy" is and what he or she’s done, we don’t know if he or she will get away with it. The book reminded me a little of the works of Thomas Hardy – characters at the mercy of fate, people who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and strangely, Trespass, which was longlisted for 2010’s Man Booker Prize, reminds me a little of an earlier Man Booker winner, John Banville’s The Sea, though the setting and subject matter are entirely different.
Along the way, Tremain gives us a history lesson of the Cévennes. She tells us about the decline of the once thriving silk industry, the poor working conditions Audrun once endured in the underwear factory in Ruasse, the way the Cévenol people never hoped for more than what they already had. But it’s the sense of isolation, of ever-present menace that really captures the spirit of the area and adds to the darkness of this book. The woods of holm oak and beech and chestnut and pine are lovely, but Tremain never lets us forget that its loveliness is fraught with danger.
While I could feel sympathy for some of the characters in Trespass, I really didn’t like any of them, other than Mélodie, a little girl we meet in the first chapter and then don’t see again for about two hundred pages or so. I’m not surprised. They aren’t, by any means, likable people. They seem either blind to their faults or dismissive of them. But they did seem real. They were one hundred percent believable and so is their story.
The only quibble I have with this book is a maddening habit of Tremain’s to write "and now he, Anthony" or "now that she, Kitty...." For god’s sake, Ms. Tremain, we know who you’re talking about. The reference is distracting. Even though grammatically correct, this habit really got on my nerves and it reminded me of something a lesser writer would do, not someone of Tremain’s status.
Trespass isn’t my favorite Rose Tremain book, by any stretch. I don’t think it can hold a candle to the magnificent Music and Silence, which I read years ago and still think about often, but other than the above grammatical quibble, I really can’t point to any particular fault, though something holds it back from greatness.
In the end, Trespass is an engrossing and unsettling story, and by Tremain’s standards, it’s a dark one. Her characters are in search of redemption from their trespasses, and some of them are more active about pursuing that redemption than others. Is it worth it? Well, Tremain wisely leaves that for her readers to decide.
4.5/5
Recommended: Yes, to readers looking for a dark and atmospheric book. This isn’t a masterpiece, but it is a suspenseful and engrossing story, and one that’s extremely well crafted. And if you love books set in France, the Cévennes hills setting of Trespass will be a bonus.
August 12, 2023
At the beginning, the writing is simple, very simple. I thought: "I don't remember Rose Tremain's writing style like this." Well, it's not. These first pages are from the point of view of a 10-year old girl, Melodie. None of this novel is in the first person, but Tremain had us thinking young girl. I'm glad it didn't go on in that vein, but it was well done. Melodie's very short part has a dramatic ending. Despite its opening the novel, her part of the story happens when the book is almost finished.
There are no chapters in this. I missed that - I like being able to see by page number when a chapter ends/begins. There are multiple points of view. The story is of two sets of siblings, brothers and sisters, Aramon and Audrun, Anthony and Veronica.
The writing style does its job: it tells the story. Usually we think of the story as plot. There is a plot here, but, for me, it was the vehicle for giving us characterization. I wasn't very far into this when I thought "Finally! Again I have a book that is more characterization than plot." I'm glad there are all types of books that I read because of one of these three elements (writing style, characterization, plot) but I realized with this how much I have missed good characterizations.
As to the title, not too far in, I came across this: Doesn’t every love need to create for itself its own protected space? And if so, why don’t lovers understand better the damage trespass can do? We traditionally think of "lovers" as sexual love. The context of the above may have been that, but I think Tremain meant it in the broader sense: those who love another. There are many references to parental love, and, as the characters are siblings, that kind of love also. So, Trespass.
I am glad I picked up another by Tremain and I'm glad there are others of hers I have not read. This isn't among my tip top favorites, but it is definitely a solid 4-stars.
There are no chapters in this. I missed that - I like being able to see by page number when a chapter ends/begins. There are multiple points of view. The story is of two sets of siblings, brothers and sisters, Aramon and Audrun, Anthony and Veronica.
The writing style does its job: it tells the story. Usually we think of the story as plot. There is a plot here, but, for me, it was the vehicle for giving us characterization. I wasn't very far into this when I thought "Finally! Again I have a book that is more characterization than plot." I'm glad there are all types of books that I read because of one of these three elements (writing style, characterization, plot) but I realized with this how much I have missed good characterizations.
As to the title, not too far in, I came across this: Doesn’t every love need to create for itself its own protected space? And if so, why don’t lovers understand better the damage trespass can do? We traditionally think of "lovers" as sexual love. The context of the above may have been that, but I think Tremain meant it in the broader sense: those who love another. There are many references to parental love, and, as the characters are siblings, that kind of love also. So, Trespass.
I am glad I picked up another by Tremain and I'm glad there are others of hers I have not read. This isn't among my tip top favorites, but it is definitely a solid 4-stars.
May 17, 2011
It says in the blurb "From the moment he (Anthony Verey) arrives at the Mas Lunel, a frightening and unstoppable series of consequences is set in motion...."
I am up to page 104 and he still hasn't arrived! The first few chapters were very confusing, a different character in every chapter Jodi Piccoult style but Jodi Piccoult does it much better, it has only just become apparent how these characters are connected in the 11th chapter and I'm still wondering where Melodie (the little girl in the first chapter) fits in.
It's not helping me that the characters are all of retirement age, I cannot empathise with them, hoping it get's better soon, if I'd not paid good money for this book I'd have given up on it by now.
Page 198: Buy the house already!!!! I really should give up on this book, all the characters are horrid, I feel as though since I've wasted so much effort on this book I should finish it but she doesn't half like to ramble on about inconsequential rubbish, do I really care about why Anthony chooses a certain sandwich??? In fact I don't care about anything any longer, I just wish she'd get to the point.
I finally finished the book, it didn't really get any better, I'm just pleased I can get onto something else I might enjoy. I can't understand why it took 2/3 of the book to get to the point which I was past caring about by the time I reached it.
If anyone wants to read it, please take it off my hands, just don't bring it back!
I am up to page 104 and he still hasn't arrived! The first few chapters were very confusing, a different character in every chapter Jodi Piccoult style but Jodi Piccoult does it much better, it has only just become apparent how these characters are connected in the 11th chapter and I'm still wondering where Melodie (the little girl in the first chapter) fits in.
It's not helping me that the characters are all of retirement age, I cannot empathise with them, hoping it get's better soon, if I'd not paid good money for this book I'd have given up on it by now.
Page 198: Buy the house already!!!! I really should give up on this book, all the characters are horrid, I feel as though since I've wasted so much effort on this book I should finish it but she doesn't half like to ramble on about inconsequential rubbish, do I really care about why Anthony chooses a certain sandwich??? In fact I don't care about anything any longer, I just wish she'd get to the point.
I finally finished the book, it didn't really get any better, I'm just pleased I can get onto something else I might enjoy. I can't understand why it took 2/3 of the book to get to the point which I was past caring about by the time I reached it.
If anyone wants to read it, please take it off my hands, just don't bring it back!
November 7, 2019
Dark and brooding. A perfect read during this time of year. And dang! Rose Tremain is good at ending books with punch.
February 28, 2012
Rose Tremain is not only a prolific writer, but she is a great one. Each of her novels is different in theme, tenor, and topic. Trespass, her most recent book, is a dark, eerie and grim themed novel with a definite gothic undertone. Set in the southern part of France, in an area known as the Cevennes region, the land itself is portrayed as something feral and alive, so filled with lush growth, insects, snakes and sounds, that it has a life of its own.
In this region live a sister and brother, Audrun and Aramon Lunel. Aramon lives in the family home, Mas Lunel, that he inherited from his father. Audrun lives in a small bungalow in sight of Mas Lunel. Aramon is a misanthropic, mean-spirited drunk who has let his home go to ruin. It stinks, the olive groves are overgrown, and the hunting dogs are starving to death. Audrun hates her brother for reasons that are divulged towards the middle of the book. She inherited some land from her father and she loves to walk on it. In her bungalow, she feels like an outcast, seeing few people and staying very much to herself. Her only peace comes from her home and land. One day as she is doing her daily walk on her land, she sees Arumel stealing some of her saplings and fallen brush. Feelings of hate roil up in her but she lets him take the wood with her permission.
In another part of the valley live Veronica and her life partner Kitty in a home called Les Glaniques. They are totally and passionately in love. Kitty is a watercolorist of very limited talent and Veronica is writing a book called `Gardening Without Water'. Veronica is originally from England and is very close with her brother, Anthony Verey, who still resides there. Anthony is a narcissistic antiques dealer. He likes to refer to himself as `the Anthoney Verey'. He was once the talk of the town, invited to every party and known by everybody worth knowing. He calls his antiques his `beloveds'. With the downturn in the economy, Anthony is facing an existential crisis. Where once he could fall asleep by counting all those who envied him, he now is selling very little and invited places very infrequently. He and his sister, Veronica, have always been very close though he does not like Kitty. He decides to visit Veronica and stay for an indeterminate length of time. Though Veronica is thrilled about this visit, Kitty has reservations.
Once Anthony gets to his sister's, he falls in love with the region and decides that he wants to purchase a home in the Cevennes region. Interestingly, he wants to buy Mas Lunel. He still has a lot of money and can spend 450,000 Euros on this home. Only one thing bothers him - Audrun's bungalow is visible from the estate and he finds it an eyesore. Aramon, with dollar signs in his eyes, tells Anthony that he believes the bungalow is built illegally on his land and that he will get a surveyor to prove it. Then they will be able to tear it down. A series of events begins that set into motion acts that have irreparable results.
While staying with Veronica and Kitty, Anthony does his best to intervene in their relationship, trying to drive a rift between them. They become afraid to share their feelings and passion as they once did, suspicious that Anthony is on the other side of the door or the wall listening to them. Once like one, they grow further and further apart.
Trespass is a powerful word and in this novel we see it used in all its meanings. There is the basic trespassing on land, people trespassing on other lives and ignoring boundaries, the cultural implications of trespassing on the land of another culture, and the trespassing on honor and truth. Throughout the book, there is a darkness, a grim forboding of things to come. In some ways, this reminded me of the best of Joyce Carol Oates, and the way Oates portrays the darkness of characters and the dangers lurking in the ordinary day to day world. Tremain's characters are rich. They come alive for us and we flinch at the darkness within their souls along with the pain within their hearts. She is a fine writer and this is one of her best books to date.
In this region live a sister and brother, Audrun and Aramon Lunel. Aramon lives in the family home, Mas Lunel, that he inherited from his father. Audrun lives in a small bungalow in sight of Mas Lunel. Aramon is a misanthropic, mean-spirited drunk who has let his home go to ruin. It stinks, the olive groves are overgrown, and the hunting dogs are starving to death. Audrun hates her brother for reasons that are divulged towards the middle of the book. She inherited some land from her father and she loves to walk on it. In her bungalow, she feels like an outcast, seeing few people and staying very much to herself. Her only peace comes from her home and land. One day as she is doing her daily walk on her land, she sees Arumel stealing some of her saplings and fallen brush. Feelings of hate roil up in her but she lets him take the wood with her permission.
In another part of the valley live Veronica and her life partner Kitty in a home called Les Glaniques. They are totally and passionately in love. Kitty is a watercolorist of very limited talent and Veronica is writing a book called `Gardening Without Water'. Veronica is originally from England and is very close with her brother, Anthony Verey, who still resides there. Anthony is a narcissistic antiques dealer. He likes to refer to himself as `the Anthoney Verey'. He was once the talk of the town, invited to every party and known by everybody worth knowing. He calls his antiques his `beloveds'. With the downturn in the economy, Anthony is facing an existential crisis. Where once he could fall asleep by counting all those who envied him, he now is selling very little and invited places very infrequently. He and his sister, Veronica, have always been very close though he does not like Kitty. He decides to visit Veronica and stay for an indeterminate length of time. Though Veronica is thrilled about this visit, Kitty has reservations.
Once Anthony gets to his sister's, he falls in love with the region and decides that he wants to purchase a home in the Cevennes region. Interestingly, he wants to buy Mas Lunel. He still has a lot of money and can spend 450,000 Euros on this home. Only one thing bothers him - Audrun's bungalow is visible from the estate and he finds it an eyesore. Aramon, with dollar signs in his eyes, tells Anthony that he believes the bungalow is built illegally on his land and that he will get a surveyor to prove it. Then they will be able to tear it down. A series of events begins that set into motion acts that have irreparable results.
While staying with Veronica and Kitty, Anthony does his best to intervene in their relationship, trying to drive a rift between them. They become afraid to share their feelings and passion as they once did, suspicious that Anthony is on the other side of the door or the wall listening to them. Once like one, they grow further and further apart.
Trespass is a powerful word and in this novel we see it used in all its meanings. There is the basic trespassing on land, people trespassing on other lives and ignoring boundaries, the cultural implications of trespassing on the land of another culture, and the trespassing on honor and truth. Throughout the book, there is a darkness, a grim forboding of things to come. In some ways, this reminded me of the best of Joyce Carol Oates, and the way Oates portrays the darkness of characters and the dangers lurking in the ordinary day to day world. Tremain's characters are rich. They come alive for us and we flinch at the darkness within their souls along with the pain within their hearts. She is a fine writer and this is one of her best books to date.
October 8, 2011
My mum bought this book and read it first. We often share books and in the vast majority of cases her thoughts on how much I'll enjoy it are spot on. So when she handed me Trespass and said, "I'll be interested to see what you think...", I was intrigued. Usually, it's something along the lines of "Read this, you'll love it!" or "The story in this is superb". So I kind of felt like I was being experimented on before I even started...
I've obviously heard of Tremain before, if only because I've noticed a sizeable line of her books in a book shop every now and then. I knew about the volume of work but I couldn't have told you anything about the subject matter. Onto that subject matter...
Audrun and Aramon Lunel are brother and sister that are destroying each other. Perhaps even have already succeeded. They live almost in utter isolation at the Mas Lunel and their proximity torments each of them daily. I really felt for Audrun as a woman struggling with an unimaginable burden but was slightly repelled by her twisted focus. Equally, Aramon is a sorry man drinking himself into oblivion but, again, I found his history abhorrent and almost couldn't bear to read about his sordid view of the world.
Anthony Verey is struggling in obscurity; running an antique shop with very few customers and a shadow of the former famous man he once was. He no longer connects with people and identifies only with the objects under his care: his "beloveds", as he calls them. In his youth, Anthony was a respected valuer and noted expert - in his own mind, he is still the Anthony Verey. Needless to say, he is tormented and all but broken and looks to his older sister to save him.
Veronica Verey lives in France and has an overly-maternal attitude towards Anthony. Her partner, Kitty, is somewhat less enthused. The problem I had with 'V' is an almost complete disregard for anyone other than the Verey family. She claims to love Kitty but when Anthony arrives and starts taking over their lives, V turns her back on Kitty with an utter disregard for the pain she is causing. That said, I couldn't find it in myself to feel too bad for Kitty because her hatred for Anthony seems solely borne out of jealousy and she has such a lack of personal identity that I found myself just willing her to stand up for herself!
As you can see, this is a book that is all about its characters, these five predominantly. I believe that one of my texts to my mum when I was about half way through read "What is up with the people in this book?!" Unusually, I managed to enjoy the book despite not identifying with any of the characters or even liking any of them! I wouldn't want to know any of them and I certainly wouldn't want to intrude on their painful world but they are disturbingly captivating.
The story, equally, isn't an easy one to read. The subject matter can be tough and the relationships are destructive and harrowing. My A-Level English Literature teacher loved a bit of pathetic fallacy and I suppose it's ingrained in my psyche somewhere that I should be looking out for it. This book has it in spades. As the heat builds in the story, so it builds in the Mas Lunel and the surrounding area. It was that that kept me reading. It might not always be pleasant but it is certainly compelling.
I'm not exactly clamouring to read more of Tremain's writing straight away - I'm pretty sure my perception of humanity has been damaged enough for this month! However, I'm not completely put off and would possibly pick up another in the future. A mixed reaction, I suppose.
Overall: This is a strange book with some tough subject matter but the tension is engineered brilliantly and the story is a blend of heartache, memories and, of course, trespass. - this is a good read for a hot summer's day and will stay with you for a while after you finish it.
I've obviously heard of Tremain before, if only because I've noticed a sizeable line of her books in a book shop every now and then. I knew about the volume of work but I couldn't have told you anything about the subject matter. Onto that subject matter...
Audrun and Aramon Lunel are brother and sister that are destroying each other. Perhaps even have already succeeded. They live almost in utter isolation at the Mas Lunel and their proximity torments each of them daily. I really felt for Audrun as a woman struggling with an unimaginable burden but was slightly repelled by her twisted focus. Equally, Aramon is a sorry man drinking himself into oblivion but, again, I found his history abhorrent and almost couldn't bear to read about his sordid view of the world.
Anthony Verey is struggling in obscurity; running an antique shop with very few customers and a shadow of the former famous man he once was. He no longer connects with people and identifies only with the objects under his care: his "beloveds", as he calls them. In his youth, Anthony was a respected valuer and noted expert - in his own mind, he is still the Anthony Verey. Needless to say, he is tormented and all but broken and looks to his older sister to save him.
Veronica Verey lives in France and has an overly-maternal attitude towards Anthony. Her partner, Kitty, is somewhat less enthused. The problem I had with 'V' is an almost complete disregard for anyone other than the Verey family. She claims to love Kitty but when Anthony arrives and starts taking over their lives, V turns her back on Kitty with an utter disregard for the pain she is causing. That said, I couldn't find it in myself to feel too bad for Kitty because her hatred for Anthony seems solely borne out of jealousy and she has such a lack of personal identity that I found myself just willing her to stand up for herself!
As you can see, this is a book that is all about its characters, these five predominantly. I believe that one of my texts to my mum when I was about half way through read "What is up with the people in this book?!" Unusually, I managed to enjoy the book despite not identifying with any of the characters or even liking any of them! I wouldn't want to know any of them and I certainly wouldn't want to intrude on their painful world but they are disturbingly captivating.
The story, equally, isn't an easy one to read. The subject matter can be tough and the relationships are destructive and harrowing. My A-Level English Literature teacher loved a bit of pathetic fallacy and I suppose it's ingrained in my psyche somewhere that I should be looking out for it. This book has it in spades. As the heat builds in the story, so it builds in the Mas Lunel and the surrounding area. It was that that kept me reading. It might not always be pleasant but it is certainly compelling.
I'm not exactly clamouring to read more of Tremain's writing straight away - I'm pretty sure my perception of humanity has been damaged enough for this month! However, I'm not completely put off and would possibly pick up another in the future. A mixed reaction, I suppose.
Overall: This is a strange book with some tough subject matter but the tension is engineered brilliantly and the story is a blend of heartache, memories and, of course, trespass. - this is a good read for a hot summer's day and will stay with you for a while after you finish it.
September 14, 2010
For the most part I am a live and let live reader. If you can barely wait the 20 minutes it takes for the next James Patterson to appear that's okay with me. Got that Dave Eggers monkey on your back? I'll give you a ride home anyway. Don't think that Rose Tremain is a Great Writer? Our friendship must end. That's all there is to it. If you haven't read her we can still be pals but don't think that I am ever going to stop trying to make you read her. (Believe it when I tell you I am the Michael Phelps of nagging.) When you do read her---and yes there will be a when not an if---you will see the power that is Rose Tremain. If you don't....then find a new friend or fake it.
Tremain's new novel is Trespass. Set in the Cevennes region of France, Trespass is about grotesque family relationships, collusion, shame, deception, land disputes, revenge with a capital R and a nasty discovery on the river bank. Successful garden designer Veronica Verey and her less successful painter partner Kitty are among the many Brits who have made this area their second home. Veronica's brother Anthony is a rich, disillusioned, 60-ish retired antiques dealer who moves in with Veronica and Kitty while he hunts for a suitable home/showcase in the area for his beloved antiques. His interest in possibly purchasing a dilapidated farmhouse is the catalyst for the events of the novel. It was the childhood home of siblings Aramon and Audrun. Aramon is an addict letting alcohol lay waste to his life. Audrun is surrounded by cocoon of bitterness and destruction.
The novel is organized by chapters that each end with a revelation and begin with renewed suspense. It's a very literary take on the Victorian serial. All these revelations fall out of the story with the same sort of logic as a sweater unraveling. Each pull leads to another in an unstoppable line. Each one adding just a little more weight, a little more unhappiness, a little more ugliness until the fabric is gone and all is revealed.
The physical and mental landscape of Trespass is well populated. Tremain excels at creating fully realized worlds. Among her best are: seventeenth century England in Restoration and the Danish court in Music and Silence, the New Zealand gold rush of the mid 19th century in The Color and contemporary immigrant life on England in The Road Home. In Trespass her dazzling skills take you in seconds from this France of British holiday homes and eccentrically quaint locals to grasping interlopers and home grown subversives. It's like going from Peter Mayle to Hans Fallada at the speed of a sentence. When I am lucky enough to be reading a novel by Rose Tremain I am deliciously overtaken by a writer who understands human behavior and desire and can write about those things in a the context of a story brilliantly. Her writing doesn't lecture to me, it invites me in to discover.
Tremain's new novel is Trespass. Set in the Cevennes region of France, Trespass is about grotesque family relationships, collusion, shame, deception, land disputes, revenge with a capital R and a nasty discovery on the river bank. Successful garden designer Veronica Verey and her less successful painter partner Kitty are among the many Brits who have made this area their second home. Veronica's brother Anthony is a rich, disillusioned, 60-ish retired antiques dealer who moves in with Veronica and Kitty while he hunts for a suitable home/showcase in the area for his beloved antiques. His interest in possibly purchasing a dilapidated farmhouse is the catalyst for the events of the novel. It was the childhood home of siblings Aramon and Audrun. Aramon is an addict letting alcohol lay waste to his life. Audrun is surrounded by cocoon of bitterness and destruction.
The novel is organized by chapters that each end with a revelation and begin with renewed suspense. It's a very literary take on the Victorian serial. All these revelations fall out of the story with the same sort of logic as a sweater unraveling. Each pull leads to another in an unstoppable line. Each one adding just a little more weight, a little more unhappiness, a little more ugliness until the fabric is gone and all is revealed.
The physical and mental landscape of Trespass is well populated. Tremain excels at creating fully realized worlds. Among her best are: seventeenth century England in Restoration and the Danish court in Music and Silence, the New Zealand gold rush of the mid 19th century in The Color and contemporary immigrant life on England in The Road Home. In Trespass her dazzling skills take you in seconds from this France of British holiday homes and eccentrically quaint locals to grasping interlopers and home grown subversives. It's like going from Peter Mayle to Hans Fallada at the speed of a sentence. When I am lucky enough to be reading a novel by Rose Tremain I am deliciously overtaken by a writer who understands human behavior and desire and can write about those things in a the context of a story brilliantly. Her writing doesn't lecture to me, it invites me in to discover.
August 3, 2010
Trespass - of land by foreigners and by one's own family members; of one's own personal body and personal space; of intruders into one's relationships. Trespass is the underlying theme of this novel. How this violation is dealt with by the various characters makes up the story line and the inevitable conflict that is at the core of any good story.
In the south of France is the mountainous region of the Cevennes. This is not a pretty postcard area of France, but one of rugged, mountains, full of valleys, rivers and forests with tortuous roads made famous by a journey Robert Louis Stevenson took on a donkey over 12 days and 220 kms. This sinister and dark environment is captured perfectly as the backdrop for the sinister and dark goings-on in this novel which centres on two sets of brother and sister, one set French, born and bred in the Cevennes; and the other English, relatively new arrivals to the area.
Aramon and Audrun are, I guess, in their late fifties or early sixties. They live on a family property, the brother in the dilapidated large house, the sister in a new bungalow on her portion of the land. The brother, like the house, is falling apart through personal neglect and the sister is biding her time until he completely falls apart. He is desperate to sell the property to the numerous English, Dutch and Germans eager to buy in the area, but the presence of his sister's house on what he considers is his land has prevented any sales to date.
Meanwhile not far away, Veronica Verey, a successful garden designer and aspiring writer, who is of a similar age, lives with her lover Kitty, a very average artist. Into this mix arrives Anthony Verey, an extremely successful antique dealer from London, who is beginning to find he is a bit of a has-been, and is looking for fresh pastures. His arrival sets in place a chain of events that result in death and destruction.
The writing is marvellous: suspenseful, descriptive, dramatic, all the while taking place in the dangerous and rugged terrain of the area, its secret forests, valleys and glades. The characters are fabulously vivid, I can picture exactly how they look, what they wear, how they move, their little behaviours and idiosyncrasies. Like peeling the proverbial onion, very gradually the author uncovers the background and secrets to the relationships between the two sets of brothers and sisters which sets the scene for how events unfold.
A first rate story, that is just a little bit scary and so remains with you for quite some after. And it is not the characters and the events which are scary but the fabulous landscape and scenery which stays with the reader! Next trip to France...
In the south of France is the mountainous region of the Cevennes. This is not a pretty postcard area of France, but one of rugged, mountains, full of valleys, rivers and forests with tortuous roads made famous by a journey Robert Louis Stevenson took on a donkey over 12 days and 220 kms. This sinister and dark environment is captured perfectly as the backdrop for the sinister and dark goings-on in this novel which centres on two sets of brother and sister, one set French, born and bred in the Cevennes; and the other English, relatively new arrivals to the area.
Aramon and Audrun are, I guess, in their late fifties or early sixties. They live on a family property, the brother in the dilapidated large house, the sister in a new bungalow on her portion of the land. The brother, like the house, is falling apart through personal neglect and the sister is biding her time until he completely falls apart. He is desperate to sell the property to the numerous English, Dutch and Germans eager to buy in the area, but the presence of his sister's house on what he considers is his land has prevented any sales to date.
Meanwhile not far away, Veronica Verey, a successful garden designer and aspiring writer, who is of a similar age, lives with her lover Kitty, a very average artist. Into this mix arrives Anthony Verey, an extremely successful antique dealer from London, who is beginning to find he is a bit of a has-been, and is looking for fresh pastures. His arrival sets in place a chain of events that result in death and destruction.
The writing is marvellous: suspenseful, descriptive, dramatic, all the while taking place in the dangerous and rugged terrain of the area, its secret forests, valleys and glades. The characters are fabulously vivid, I can picture exactly how they look, what they wear, how they move, their little behaviours and idiosyncrasies. Like peeling the proverbial onion, very gradually the author uncovers the background and secrets to the relationships between the two sets of brothers and sisters which sets the scene for how events unfold.
A first rate story, that is just a little bit scary and so remains with you for quite some after. And it is not the characters and the events which are scary but the fabulous landscape and scenery which stays with the reader! Next trip to France...
May 20, 2016
"Trespass" was my first Tremain's book, and I chose to read it almost accidentally, as I could not remember the context in which it ended up in my e-reader.
"Trespass" is a dark book, not the one I could love, and still I couldn't help but admire the author's capacity to create these dark characters which I feel will haunt me for a long time now.
The plot of the book revolves around two families, British Vereys and French Lunels. Both of the families are composed of a brother and a sister, and through their intertwined stories Tremain analyses complicated relationships with their mothers and fathers, childhood traumas and their effect on the current lives of the characters.
I do love dark and complicated stories and deep psychological analysis of the characters and their flaws in literature, but I must admit that there was too much of darkness even for me in this one. I wouldn't read this book again because of the feelings it evoked in me, but it left me wishing to open another book of Tremain's very soon.
"Trespass" is a dark book, not the one I could love, and still I couldn't help but admire the author's capacity to create these dark characters which I feel will haunt me for a long time now.
The plot of the book revolves around two families, British Vereys and French Lunels. Both of the families are composed of a brother and a sister, and through their intertwined stories Tremain analyses complicated relationships with their mothers and fathers, childhood traumas and their effect on the current lives of the characters.
I do love dark and complicated stories and deep psychological analysis of the characters and their flaws in literature, but I must admit that there was too much of darkness even for me in this one. I wouldn't read this book again because of the feelings it evoked in me, but it left me wishing to open another book of Tremain's very soon.
September 30, 2014
My aunty has recommended Rose Tremain's books to me so many times and gave me a copy of Sacred Country years ago when I was still at university. Well, it took Simon Savidge's late Gran to get me reading a Tremain, and I certainly can see why she is a highly rated writer. Though the mysteries that unravelled weren't all that mysterious to me at all (I must have a sick mind because I always think the worst of characters in books and what sinister acts they may have committed in the past.... and often, I'm right), I never lost interest in what would happen next, and mostly how the various protagonists would react and interact with one another.
I'd highly recommend this for people with a foible for dark family drama interspersed with astute and witty observations and descriptions of Chelsea toffs and their ilk.
Thanks to my dear friend Jana, I was able to enjoy this book on audio, read by the fantastic actress Juliet Stephenson who is fast becoming one of my favourite audio book narrators.
I'd highly recommend this for people with a foible for dark family drama interspersed with astute and witty observations and descriptions of Chelsea toffs and their ilk.
Thanks to my dear friend Jana, I was able to enjoy this book on audio, read by the fantastic actress Juliet Stephenson who is fast becoming one of my favourite audio book narrators.
December 28, 2018
Extraordinary. Complex, dark, gorgeously written. Though published in 2010, and though I've read many wonderful books this year, this is the novel of my year.
November 9, 2014
Is it just me, or has contemporary English fiction grown a tad anemic lately? (And I do mean English--Commonwealth writers, the Scottish, Irish and Welsh don't seem to have this problem.) Tremain's "Trespass" was excellent at depiction, at conjuring a scene and a psychological mood, at efficiently limning character, at the tight evocativeness of the writing even, and yet its ambition was small. The novel seems prompted by a formulaic problem, which it fulfills with imagination without ever getting beyond the formula. The plot's neatness belies the messiness of the characters, with their melodramatically dark pasts. So the feelings it generates remain limited.
The most famous novelist who fits this bill is Ian McEwan. The one who most defies it and gives me hope is the always adventurous Julian Barnes.
I hope someone argues with me here....
The most famous novelist who fits this bill is Ian McEwan. The one who most defies it and gives me hope is the always adventurous Julian Barnes.
I hope someone argues with me here....
October 30, 2014
For a book about a bunch of middle-aged people in rural France, this novel keeps you on the edge of your seat. What happens when a collection of characters are pushed hard by the desperation of losing the only thing they love? I found myself continually surprised by the answers to this question as I read this book.
September 19, 2019
Relentlessly bleak, nihilistic and cruel. Full of the most cliched, shallow and hackneyed characterization I’ve read in a while. I’m glad I finally read a Rose Tremain to see what everyone was talking about. But never again. No thank you. Some great descriptions do not make a novel worth reading.
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