The Double Bind

A Novel

By: Chris Bohjalian

Narrated by: Susan Denaker

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 Twenties and the twenty-first 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 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.

Intriguing and beautifully written

Seldom do you read a book written by a man who portrays a female character with elegance, and accuracy. His story of the woman who is assaulted and then reworks the event in her life is dramatic, horrifying and yet tender. I highly recommend the book -- literally, I couldn't unpug my earbuds.

Twist at the very end!

Slow start but when it gets going it really gets going. I did not see the twist at the end coming at all

Narration

The narrator was awful. Didn’t expect the ending. I had to listen to chapter 5 one more time. WoW. I enjoyed the book.

What in the world?

What was the author thinking - or NOT thinking? Stick to Midwives ... Bohjalian at his best. These other books are bizarre and boring.