The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Genre
  • Podcast
  • Policies
    • Review Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy

The Complicities: A Novel

September 26, 2022

complicities

The Complicities by Stacey D'Erasmo
Published by Algonquin Books
Publication date: September 20, 2022
Genres: Book Clubs, Fiction, Contemporary, Literary
four-stars
Bookshop

Con man Bernie Madoff’s life inspired a plethora of novels about the aftermath of a wife left to clean up her husband’s mess. Or at least try to escape it. By and large, they come from a perspective of innocence. But in Stacey d’Erasmo’s new novel, The Complicities, she opts to forgo the black-and-white ease of innocent or guilty to go with something much more compelling—the many hues of complicity.

The novel’s convicted fraudster is Alan and The Complicities is told by his ex-wife Suzanne. She’s divorced her prison bound husband, refusing any contact with him. Instead, she scrapes together the little money she has left and decamps for a small Massachusetts town where she hopes to live and rebuild under her maiden name. She rents a house, takes an online class in massage therapy, starts her own business, and bartends part-time to make ends meet.

Alan calls repeatedly from prison, but Suzanne ignores him. Later, he’s released early and starts a new business with his son, who’s always believed in his innocence. He marries a woman named Lydia. His mother, Sylvia, whom he hasn’t seen since he was a child, decides she needs to make amends and begins a journey to reconnect with her estranged son.

All while Suzanne settles into her community. When a whale is stranded at nearby beach she volunteers to help save it. The whale is a catalyst, leading Suzanne to a rash, problematic decision with far reaching implications.

These are the events stacked up within The Complicities. Suzanne is the novel’s narrator so everything is seen through the lens of her mind and its constructs. Lydia and Sylvia have their parts to play, but only through Suzanne’s eyes. As she herself says, she’s “collaged” her life with those of the other women in an effort to understand, but even that is on her terms. The truth feels like an aside and as the Jenga pieces of Alan’s life topple, it becomes even harder to find.

I haven’t been in a space for challenging reading, but I welcomed it in The Complicities. D’Erasmo does such a marvelous job in shading and coloring outside the lines. In one way or another, all of the characters live on a spectrum of fluid morality. Suzanne’s bluntness makes her seem believable, but she has a stunning ability to deflect. These characters, their lives, are intriguing given how freely the word complicity has been applied in America in recent years.  Weeks after finishing The Complicities I’m still puzzling over it, always the sign of great reading.

 

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase of any kind, I get a small commission (at no cost to you).

 

four-stars

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • Same Genre
  • 4 Star Books
  • By Stacey D'Erasmo
nowhere
Nowhere Girl: A Memoir
bark
Bark: Stories
covenant
The Covenant of Water
What’s Mine and Yours
more than
More Than A Woman by Caitlin Moran
The World Without Us
ornatrix
The Ornatrix: A Novel
talk
Talk to Me by John Kenney
earth
EarthEater: A Novel by Dolores Reyes
fun age
Such a Fun Age: A Novel
foe
Foe: A Novel by Iain Reid
beauty
All the Beauty in the World
god
When God Was a Rabbit
lexicon
Lexicon: A Novel
stranger
The Stranger Inside by Lisa Unger
wonderland
Wonderland

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, literary

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Goodreads
  • Instagram

Save time and subscribe via email

No time to keep checking for new reviews? Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. No spam!

Bookshop

Currently Reading

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Emily Nagoski
The Dutch House
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
by Adrienne Brodeur

goodreads.com

Affiliate Disclosure

I’m an affiliate for Bookshop. If you click on a link that takes you to their site and make a purchase I’ll earn a small fee, which goes towards the costs of maintaining this site. Your support is appreciated. Thank you!

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2025

Copyright © 2025 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in