Trust

by Kate Veitch

I'm a lucky woman, thinks Susanna Greenfield. And why wouldn't she? Her handsome, successful husband is a loving father to their two teenage children. Her mother is her dearest friend, and her scatty but adored younger sister seems to have finally found some stability in her life. Susanna has a solid career as an art teacher, and if, as she's recently discovered, there's a hole inside her where her creative spirit used to be – is that really such a big price to pay?

But beneath the carefully maintained surface, seismic forces are at work. Fault lines are forming, not only in Susanna, but within each beloved member of her family. In a single, tragically ill-judged moment, the fabric it has taken a lifetime to construct can be torn apart.

Human frailties, and the power of the ties that bind us: this is Kate Veitch's territory, explored with characteristic warmth and honesty in her absorbing portrait of a family thrown into crisis.

Genres: Fiction, Australia

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Kate Veitch's debut novel was published as LISTEN in Australia, and was a bestseller there and in Germany. In July '08 it was published in the US as WITHOUT A BACKWARD GLANCE. By December, the novel had sold close to 30,000 copies and been nominated as one of American Library Journal's BEST BOOKS OF 2008. http://www.libraryjournal.com/article...

Kate splits her time between Australia and the US, where her partner works. She is currently completing her second novel, in a borrowed apartment overlooking Sydney Harbour.

Reviews

[Shonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first discovered Trust while browsing at Barnes and Noble. When it was offered as a tour selection from Crazy Book Tours, I knew I had to sign up. I enjoy reading books that deal with family dynamics.

It took awhile for me to connect with the characters, including Susanna. The beginning chapters moved slowly for me and I became impatient as I waited for the event to occur. I must say, though, after finishing the book, I realized the initial slow pace is crucial to the storyline. It was much easier to view Susanna’s life as before the event occurs and after the event.

The second half of the story Trust was much better for me, although I still had not warmed up to Gerry (and I never did). Witnessing the transformation of Susanna was both heart-breaking, but yet inspiring. As the veil of illusion was lifted regarding her marriage, Susanna gained the confidence to become the woman she always wanted to be.

[Genelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not a big fan of the author's writing style in this book. I found this book to be a bit slow. It started off quite slowly for me but I read on wanting to get to know the characters. I was mostly bored for the first half and felt like I was waiting for the accident mentioned on the back of the book for the story to pick up. Up until that point I found it to be very predictable, not exciting. The second half of the book though did pick up I thought. There were a few more twists I didn't expect and I found the characters to get a bit more interesting. I did find the characters to mostly believable throughout the book with the exception of god-praising Angie. I'd read a review describing the men in this story as narcissistic and I didn't find that to be so with the exception of Gerry. I didn't expect the ending, but I was pleasantly surprised by Susanna's growth by the end of the last chapter. This book isn't worth recommending to friends, but if someone picked it up on their own I wouldn't encourage them to put it down either.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up not realising Kate Veitch is an Australian author. The story is set in Melbourne and has two parts to the book - before and after.

About an extended family and their lives, each chapter focuses on one of the members. There's husband Gerry, wife Susanna, and their two children Stella-Jean and Seb. Susanna's sister Angie and her son Finn, and Gabriel the boarder. Mother to Susanna and Angie, there's Jean, and a few other people thrown in for good mix.

The story for me was a bit slow. I kept waiting for something to happen, and even when it did, I still found it slow. Some characters were not likable at all. I found Angie so completely annoying. I am not religious and the brainwashing that goes on at Pentecostal institutions does not sit well with me. I struggled to read about Angie's obsession with the church and forced preaching that was endured on Finn. Enter Gabriel. Horrible deranged human. I really would liked to have seen him get his just desserts and felt that part of storyline was glazed over when the truth came out.

Gerry was not a nice man really, and Susanna was just plain full of self doubt. Their kids were my favourite characters and Finn too. Jean was dealing with past parenting issues which are addressed and then there is a tragedy that pertains to the second part of the book.

Overall it wasn't a bad story and I do like Australian authors and stories set in places I know. I'm a big fan of Liane Moriarty and this, although slow, did remind me a tad of some of Liane's books. I think I will give Kate Vietch another go.

3 stars.

[Maxine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a little slow to start with but stick with it because by the end of the book I could not put it down. Veitch's writing style and subject matter reminds me of Liane Moriarty. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed and the storyline moved along at a good pace. There were a few passages here and there that I skipped through but not many. I will be seeking out some more of Veitch's books to read.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took forever to build in what seemed like mundane daily life tasks. Once I finally got through that, it was better and more interesting in the end.

[Jean Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a good absorbing read.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Tricia Cassavaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm... 2.5 stars, bordering on 3. A bit hard to rate. This book follows the melodramatic life of an Australian family, the first half “before” the “tragic event” referred to on the back cover, the second half “after.” Initially it was a little challenging to get into some of the characters. The main protagonist, forty-something Susanna, is a bit of a wuss, no doubt by design. Her mom is interesting but the bible thumping, clueless sister is just plain irritating and everyone else is irritating in the way they handle her. There are several storylines occurring simultaneously, some more compelling than others. There is a surprising sexual aspect to the book which didn’t seem to fit with the prose/writing style. Sometimes it all seemed very quaint and then the author threw a cock ring in there and all hell broke loose. The “big event,” I felt, was set up to be much more tragic than what actually ended up happening. Yes, it would be an extremely difficult thing for a family to go through, but we were led to believe it would be much, much more devastating. One could look at this as either good or bad I suppose.

My favorite things about the book were the relationship between cousins Stella-Jean and Finn and the authenticity with which the author handled Susanna and Gerry’s marriage issues (that’s no spoiler, it’s clear from the first few pages something is amiss). At first I was in disbelief at the direction the author was taking to resolve their relationship and it definitely had me rolling my eyes. But in the end the author surprised me, in a good way. I felt most of the book was a decent reflection of “real life,” albeit a highly dramatic real life, but real life nontheless.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took a few chapters to finally engage with the characters in the book. Once I did, however, I found the women and the symbolism to be absolutely beautiful. The perfect family on the outside is never real. The family has its secrets, women have their guilt and insecurities, and the men in this novel, at least, are narcissistic. I would have liked to have seen them be more rounded and two or three dimensional. However, I can't say that I don't know Gerrys and Gabriels because I do.


The story, once I engaged, drew me in. I empathized with the characters, even the children and their growing pains. The author developed each character very carefully to tell a story of heartbreak, redemption, and ultimately, trust.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Susanna Greenfield has put her all into being a good daughter, wife and mother. She has maintained an important career as a college art professor, raised two beautiful headstrong teenagers, had a successful twenty year marriage to her handsome architect husband, Gerry, and was the eternal peace maker between her pretty younger sister, Angie - a born-again Christian and recovering junkie - and their headstrong mother, Jean.


As Susanna struggles to revive her creative career, a devastating accident rips apart the very fabric of her safe and secure world, exposing secrets which threaten to destroy both a marriage and a life. I truly enjoyed this book, the second by Kate Veitch and give it an A+!

[Jillwilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s appropriate that I listened to this book as an audio book while I was sewing. It’s a novel that focuses both on domestic life and relationships, and on how the central character, Suzanna, finds a sense of herself and pleasure in the flow of creating art. This is a family, like most families, where people keep secrets from each other – hence the title. One reviewer described it thus: “Overall, there is very little not to like about this insightful, thought-provoking and engaging novel's 350 well-paced pages”. If I was a novelist, I would probably want something better than “there is very little not to like” but I might be happy with “this insightful, thought-provoking and engaging novel”. My view of the book tends towards the first observation.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't like this one as well as her first novel.
Takes place in Australia and the main character is Susanna who at some point realizes that although she enjoys being a wife and mother, she also wants to be an artist. She be me a teacher instead of realizing her desire to become a true artist.
The book is broken down into two parts - Before and After. The After part follows what happens after an accident changes everyone's life.
Wasn't too crazy about any of the characters and there were a lot of Australian references which I didn't really understand. The story was ok and she tied most everything up but I didn't get a big kick out of reading it.

[Rhonda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so different from what I expected. I just thought it was going to be a quick, easy, light read. But it was not that enjoyable.

One person in the book, the younger sister, was a born-again Christian, with a young son, and that was fine, just didn't fit in with the rest of the book. You could be reading about how to live the right and proper life one moment, to the f*** word, explicit descriptions of sex, a young teenager viewing porn and dealing with his gay feelings, to the husband's affair.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story of a middle aged woman coming to terms with the decisions she has made in her life about career and family. The characters here are great, and the core problem -- that she has failed to acknowledge the truth about herself and her family -- is interesting (if, perhaps, a little Lifetime movie-ish). But there's a plot twist in the middle of the book -- the "tragedy" mentioned on the book jacket - that is distracting and unbelievable.

[Sherrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read from this author. It won't be the last. Very good story line and well written. Susanna's life is turned upside down after the accident and she struggles to get it back. But along comes a family secret that throws a monkey wrench into everything. I can't really say too much about this as it will give away the whole book. But if you get a chance to read this book, please do, I really enjoyed reading this book.

[Robin Malcomson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read, interesting characters. At the beginning there was a chapter focusing on the younger sister that was VERY God-centric and I was worried that I had accidently picked up a "Christian" book (especially with the name Trust), but I was proven wrong soon after. There is a LOT going on in this book, which makes it a little different....but also unbelievable. Great airplane or beach read.

[Lily Mulholland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a fantastic book. I wasn't so sure coming up to the halfway mark, as I've never been a big fan of the omniscient 3rd person narrator, but the middle and second half of this book were stunning. It's been so unfashionable up until the past year or so to write suburban drama - particularly in Australia - but I thought Kate Veitch absolutely nailed it.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing wasn't bad, it was decently done, actually. What was off-putting was the absolute hatred and hostility for anything remotely Christian. I felt like I was reading propaganda material for atheists international or something more than a story.

[Robin]

late June 2010

[Elizabeth Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was OK - pretty standard chick lit fare. Got this as a free ARC.

[Casey Starnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't sure about it at first......and don't think the title matched the book.....but the story was good. Quite moved by the letter revealed toward the end of the book.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Borrowed this on recommendation from the Edgeworth Library. Was told that I'd love it, and I did!

[Franceyp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it. Good story.

[Kathy]

Worst. book. ever. Unreadable; even un-skimmable. Will throw away, rather than passing on to some unsuspecting soul.

[Ohia · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a trainwreck!

[Helen Wood]

A bit light weight - just about every cllched thing that could happen, did. And was clearly signposted beforehand. Disappointing after her first book

[lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book took a while for me to get into and also keep all of the characters/names straight. a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. not my favorite.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this book. It's not the most amazing I've ever read, but it was a great quick read :-)

[Tina Stiffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

More then just a chick lit it makes you think about how your attitudes effect more then yourself, how they impact on your closes relationships very good