The Double Bind

A Novel

By: Chris Bohjalian

Narrated by: Susan Denaker

Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

As the New York Times has said, “Few writers can manipulate a plot with [Chris] Bohjalian’s grace and power.” Now he is back with an ambitious new novel that travels between Jay Gatsby’s Long Island and rural New England, between the Roaring 20s and the 21st century.

When college sophomore Laurel Estabrook is attacked while riding her bicycle through Vermont’s back roads, her life is forever changed. Formerly outgoing, Laurel withdraws into her photography and begins to work at a homeless shelter. There she meets Bobbie Crocker, a man with a history of mental illness and a box of photographs that he won’t let anyone see. When Bobbie dies suddenly, Laurel discovers that before he was homeless, Bobbie Crocker was a successful photographer.

As Laurel’s fascination with Bobbie’s former life begins to merge into obsession, she becomes convinced that some of his photographs reveal a deeply hidden, dark family secret and falls into into a cat-and-mouse game with pursuers who claim they want to save her.

In this spellbinding literary thriller, rich with complex and compelling characters Chris Bohjalian takes listeners on his most intriguing, most haunting, and most unforgettable journey yet.

©2007 Chris Bohjalian (P)2007 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"Laurel Estabrook, a young social worker living in Vermont, becomes obsessed with a box of photographs that belonged to a deceased homeless man, Bobbie Crocker. An amateur photographer herself, Laurel wonders how someone as destitute as Crocker came to possess such high-quality photos, many of them featuring famous people and, bizarrely, Laurel's childhood town. As she devotes more and more time to researching Crocker's past, her friends and family become concerned for her mental well-being. Six years previously, Laurel was attacked by two men in the woods while riding her bike, and though she recovered enough to finish college and get a job, she remains fragile. Bohjalian, whose Midwives was an Oprah Book Club selection, adds original and creative elements to this tale by blending the story of The Great Gatsby with Laurel's story and including photographs by a real-life homeless man named Bob Campbell. Far from being simply a mystery story, this is a complex exploration of the human psyche and its efforts to heal and survive in whatever manner possible. Recommended for all fiction collections. (Library Journal, starred review)

"This elegantly crafted tale is well worth delving into." (Booklist)

"A tricky and intriguing premise." (Publishers Weekly)

Aurora23

The writing was good. The story interesting. However, it read like an unfinished draft. It needed a it more connecting of the dots. Maybe 1 more chapter. I finished the book feeling unsatisfied. Too any questions, but not in a "food for thought manner", just unfinished..

Blah

I'm just bored. And I am not particularly enamoured of any of the characters, nor am I excited by the narrator, I'm just bored.

Entertaining, with a twist.

I found myself increasingly interested in the characters in this novel, which entertwines a modern story with The Great Gatsby in a very clever and ultimately surprising way. Not a page-turner, but well-constructed, with an ending that doesn't readily reveal itself beforehand.

Not easily describable

Fans of "The Girl on the Train" will likely be intrigued by this story, but in this reader's opinion, it doesn't have the same payoff. It's suspenseful to an extent, but it's a very slow burn. The narration is good, albeit sometimes a bit devoid of emotion.

Didn't wow me

I listened to most of the book and then finally got hold of the hardcopy to speed it up. The plot reminds me of another psychological story I saw years ago. I felt played for a fool more with this story than I did that show. The protagonist splinters apart during the story and that is rather difficult to recognize. Somehow I don't remember this book as anything special. I f you really like the psychological details of some character than you might well like this alot. But me, I'd give it a pass.

dosapointing

I felt like I invested s lot when I got absorbed in the story and chayscyrrs that the endings twist ruined the book for me.

Great story about survival

It came across as a non- fiction until the end. I started to believe The Great Gatsby was a non- fiction book as well.

I loved it!

I never saw it coming! The ending chapter was fantastic. I'm going to be reading more of his books for sure.

Worth reading...

Interesting concept to weave the Gatsby story into this novel! I enjoyed that part. Also, it was very readable, although I would say it wasn't completely compelling until the last 1/3 or so. But that last 1/3 was a doozy! There is definitely a twist of the plot at the end that makes the reader completely re-think the whole book in an interesting way. I'm not sure the ending works, BUT I have some more thinking to do about it. I like that it makes you think about it afterward, if only to figure out the twist. But, then again, in some ways I think I would rather have been given more clues during the story rather than having to figure it all out AFTERWARDS when I'm all finished with it. I sort of resent having the rug pulled out from under me at the end when I'm all finished reading so there's nowhere to go with it at this point except looking backward and trying to put it all together. SO, it's a mixed review for a book worth "reading."

not so sure...

A bit implausible....the combination of a slightly simpering voice used for the main character, along with some pretty weak character development in general, made for a tale that wasn't overly compelling. Good for a long car ride, but not riveting.