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A New York Times Notable Book of 2020 "'Saint X' is hypnotic. Schaitkin's characters...are so intelligent and distinctive it feels not just easy, but necessary, to follow them. I devoured [it] in a day." -Oyinkan Braithwaite, New York Times Book Review When you lose the person who is most essential to you, who do you become? Recommended by Entertainment Weekly, included in Good Morning America's 20 Books We're Excited for in 2020 & named as one of Vogue's Best Books to Read This Winter, Bustle's Most Anticipated Books of February 2020, and O Magazine's 14 of the Best Books to Read This February! Hailed as a "marvel of a book" and "brilliant and unflinching," Alexis Schaitkin's stunning debut, Saint X, is a haunting portrait of grief, obsession, and the bond between two sisters never truly given the chance to know one another. Claire is only seven years old when her college-age sister, Alison, disappears on the last night of their family vacation at a resort on the Caribbean island of Saint X. Several days later, Alison's body is found in a remote spot on a nearby cay, and two local men-employees at the resort- are arrested. But the evidence is slim, the timeline against it, and the men are soon released. The story turns into national tabloid news, a lurid mystery that will go unsolved. For Claire and her parents, there is only the return home to broken lives. Years later, Claire is living and working in New York City when a brief but fateful encounter brings her together with Clive Richardson, one of the men originally suspected of murdering her sister. It is a moment that sets Claire on an obsessive pursuit of the truth-not only to find out what happened the night of Alison's death but also to answer the elusive question: Who exactly was her sister? At seven, Claire had been barely old enough to know her: a beautiful, changeable, provocative girl of eighteen at a turbulent moment of identity formation. As Claire doggedly shadows Clive, hoping to gain his trust, waiting for the slip that will reveal the truth, an unlikely attachment develops between them, two people whose lives were forever marked by the same tragedy. For readers of Emma Cline's The Girls and Lauren Groff's Fates and Furies, Saint X is a flawlessly drawn and deeply moving story that culminates in an emotionally powerful ending.
Alexis Schaitkin erzählt vom Tod auf einer Insel
Im Grunde ist jede Geschichte schon erzählt. Von der Liebe, vom Krieg, vom Erwachsenwerden, von Mord und dessen Aufklärung. Insofern bemisst sich das Talent eines Autors nicht am Sujet, sondern an der Form: Wie reden die Figuren, wie ist die Handlung organisiert, wie werden Raum und Zeit erschlossen? Das "Was" ist wichtig, das "Wie" viel wichtiger. Da Genreliteratur oft handwerklichen Kriterien folgt, erscheinen die meisten Kriminalromane im besten Sinne konventionell. Ausnahmen gibt es regelmäßig, Meisterwerke eher selten. In Anlehnung an François Truffauts Interview-Buch über Alfred Hitchcock könnte man nun aber fragen: "Alexis Schaitkin, wie haben Sie das gemacht?"
Die amerikanische Autorin veröffentlichte mit "Saint X" im vergangenen Jahr ihr Debüt und erntete so viel Beifall, dass sich milde Skepsis regte. Der herkömmliche Beginn scheint den Vorbehalt zu bestätigen: 1995 besucht eine Familie der Oberklasse eine fiktive Karibikinsel. Vater, Mutter, die achtzehnjährige Alison und deren sieben Jahre alte Schwester Claire. Man spielt Volleyball und lässt sich am Strand Cocktails servieren. Kurz vor dem Ende des Trips verschwindet Alison. Die Polizei ermittelt. Ohne Erfolg. Nach wenigen Tagen finden Urlauber die Leiche der jungen Frau auf einer Nachbarinsel.
Thematisch ist das klassische Krimikost. Gleichwohl signalisieren die raffinierten Beobachtungen der Autorin (Kategorie "Kannste dir nicht ausdenken") und ihre Charakterisierung des Opfers, dass man hier doch Großes erwarten darf. Ein wenig renitent ist diese Alison, aber zugleich einnehmend und klug; man kriegt ihr sinfonisches Wesen nicht zu fassen. Einmal sagt die inzwischen erwachsene Claire, aus deren Perspektive das Gros der Story geschildert wird: "Meine Schwester war unschuldig, sie trifft keine Schuld an ihrem schrecklichen Schicksal. Und gleichzeitig war es doch alles ihre Schuld." Solche Nebelkerzen zündet Schaitkin, die sich als gewiefte Psychologin erweist, in optimaler Dosierung. Das gilt nicht nur für die Figuren, sondern für die ganze Motivpalette des Buchs.
Es geht um familiäre Dynamiken, den Zusammenhang von Hautfarben und Privilegien, und darum, dass selbst das geschärfteste Bewusstsein für politische Korrektheit nicht vor Rassismus schützt. So sagt Claire, die im ethnisch bunten Flatbush lebt, obwohl sie auch in ein gediegeneres Viertel New Yorks hätte ziehen können: "Ich muss zugeben, dass ich von mir selbst beeindruckt war, weil ich in einem Haus lebte, in dem ich zu den wenigen weißen Mietern gehörte." Heiklen Fragen nähert sich die Autorin mal menschlich, allzumenschlich, mal moralisch, hin und wieder unmoralisch oder nüchtern. Nie wird aus ihrem Roman dabei ein Leitartikel, die Wahrnehmung erfolgt stets über das Personal.
Eines Tages läuft Claire einem jener Männer über den Weg, die auf der Insel zuletzt mit Alison unterwegs waren. Er heißt Clive, wurde damals verhaftet, aus Mangel an Beweisen jedoch wieder auf freien Fuß gesetzt. Claire stalkt ihn, erst besonnen, dann obsessiv. Schließlich spricht sie ihn an - und die beiden treffen sich regelmäßig in einem Imbiss. Darüber hinaus widmet sie sich alten Aufnahmen, die ihre Schwester auf Kassette gesprochen hat, und recherchiert, was über den Fall, der längst Teil der True-Crime-Industrie geworden ist, an Fakten vorliegt. Im Vorbeigehen reflektiert Schaitkin dabei, warum Kriminalgeschichten so faszinierend sind.
Außerdem fächert sie peu à peu auf, welche Konsequenzen Alisons Tod hat: für die Familie, die Insel, deren Bewohner und Urlauber. Einige von ihnen kommen zu Wort, jeder mit einem individuellen, sorgfältig ausgearbeiteten Sound. Entscheidend für die Qualität des Buchs ist indes, dass nicht die Frage nach den Todesumständen den Plot trägt, sondern die mit immer feinerem Strich gezeichneten, interpretationsbedürftigen Persönlichkeiten von Alison, Claire und Clive.
Man sollte in Besprechungen nicht zu dick auftragen. Das wirkt schnell, als sei man besoffen vor Begeisterung oder, im Fall eines Verrisses, herablassend. Deswegen sagen wir so vorsichtig, wie es geht: "Saint X" ist ein perfekt komponiertes Bravourstück, das es mit den literarischen Glanzlichtern der vergangenen Jahre aufnehmen kann. KAI SPANKE.
Alexis Schaitkin: "Saint X". Roman. Aus dem Englischen von Wibke Kuhn. Ullstein Verlag, Berlin 2021. 480 S., geb., 24,- Euro.
Alle Rechte vorbehalten. © F.A.Z. GmbH, Frankfurt am Main
"'Saint X' is hypnotic. Schaitkin's characters...are so intelligent and distinctive it feels not just easy, but necessary, to follow them. I devoured [it] in a day."
-Oyinkan Braithwaite, New York Times Book Review
"Richly atmospheric, by turns coolly satiric and warmly romantic, Alexis Schaitkin's brilliant debut novel Saint X imagines a chorus of voices in the aftermath of the alleged murder of a privileged American girl vacationing in an exotic Caribbean country. Part 'true-crime' thriller and part coming-of-age novel narrated by the deceased girl's younger sister, Saint X is irresistibly suspenseful and canny."
-Joyce Carol Oates
"Saint X, Alexis Schaitkin's atmospheric new novel, is ostensibly about a young American girl who goes missing while on a family vacation in the Caribbean. But it is more than that. The book also unpacks timely social and cultural issues - about grief, truth, white privilege and our murder-as-entertainment culture."
-Washington Post
"A smart, socially conscious thriller that will take you away."
-People Magazine, Book of the Week
"This debut novel is hypnotic, delivering acute social commentary on everything from class and race to familial bonds and community, and yet its weblike nature never confuses or fails to captivate."
-New York Times, Editors' Choice
"This writer is fearless, and her gamble pays off. This killer debut is both a thriller with a vivid setting and an insightful study of race, class, and obsession."
-Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW
"There's one moment in every person's life, posits Saint X, that will define the rest of it. For many in this novel, it's the death of Alison Thomas, a teenage girl who perishes while vacationing with her family on a Caribbean island. The mystery remains unsolved until years later, when her sister Claire runs into one of the original suspects in New York and befriends him, hoping to piece together what happened to Alison."
-Entertainment Weekly
"One of the year's buzziest debuts."
-Bustle, The 22 Most Anticipated Books of February 2020
"Saint X is slightly miraculous. Funny, chilling, moving, and throughout, deeply intelligent. We follow Emily into the depths of her obsessive quest with fascination and, in the end, rise with her as she moves on. This is an utterly original and engrossing novel written with the surest possible hand."
-Christopher Tilghman, Author of Thomas and Beal in the Midi
"Here is a marvel of a book, a kaleidoscopic examination of race and privilege, family and self, told with the propulsive, kinetic focus of a crime novel. Brilliant and unflinching, Saint X marks the debut of a stunningly gifted writer. I simply couldn't stop reading."
-Chang-rae Lee, Author of On Such A Full Sea
"Alexis Schaitkin's stunning debut novel is an examination of race, privilege, family and self as a teenage girl vanishes during her family's luxury Caribbean vacation on the island of Saint X. Though the lives of the privileged tourists and the island locals are seemingly unrelated, in the aftermath of this single dramatic event, they're inextricably bound to each other forever."
-Good Morning America, 20 Books We're Excited for in 2020
-Oyinkan Braithwaite, New York Times Book Review
"Richly atmospheric, by turns coolly satiric and warmly romantic, Alexis Schaitkin's brilliant debut novel Saint X imagines a chorus of voices in the aftermath of the alleged murder of a privileged American girl vacationing in an exotic Caribbean country. Part 'true-crime' thriller and part coming-of-age novel narrated by the deceased girl's younger sister, Saint X is irresistibly suspenseful and canny."
-Joyce Carol Oates
"Saint X, Alexis Schaitkin's atmospheric new novel, is ostensibly about a young American girl who goes missing while on a family vacation in the Caribbean. But it is more than that. The book also unpacks timely social and cultural issues - about grief, truth, white privilege and our murder-as-entertainment culture."
-Washington Post
"A smart, socially conscious thriller that will take you away."
-People Magazine, Book of the Week
"This debut novel is hypnotic, delivering acute social commentary on everything from class and race to familial bonds and community, and yet its weblike nature never confuses or fails to captivate."
-New York Times, Editors' Choice
"This writer is fearless, and her gamble pays off. This killer debut is both a thriller with a vivid setting and an insightful study of race, class, and obsession."
-Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW
"There's one moment in every person's life, posits Saint X, that will define the rest of it. For many in this novel, it's the death of Alison Thomas, a teenage girl who perishes while vacationing with her family on a Caribbean island. The mystery remains unsolved until years later, when her sister Claire runs into one of the original suspects in New York and befriends him, hoping to piece together what happened to Alison."
-Entertainment Weekly
"One of the year's buzziest debuts."
-Bustle, The 22 Most Anticipated Books of February 2020
"Saint X is slightly miraculous. Funny, chilling, moving, and throughout, deeply intelligent. We follow Emily into the depths of her obsessive quest with fascination and, in the end, rise with her as she moves on. This is an utterly original and engrossing novel written with the surest possible hand."
-Christopher Tilghman, Author of Thomas and Beal in the Midi
"Here is a marvel of a book, a kaleidoscopic examination of race and privilege, family and self, told with the propulsive, kinetic focus of a crime novel. Brilliant and unflinching, Saint X marks the debut of a stunningly gifted writer. I simply couldn't stop reading."
-Chang-rae Lee, Author of On Such A Full Sea
"Alexis Schaitkin's stunning debut novel is an examination of race, privilege, family and self as a teenage girl vanishes during her family's luxury Caribbean vacation on the island of Saint X. Though the lives of the privileged tourists and the island locals are seemingly unrelated, in the aftermath of this single dramatic event, they're inextricably bound to each other forever."
-Good Morning America, 20 Books We're Excited for in 2020
Saint X is hypnotic, delivering acute social commentary on everything from class and race to familial bonds and community . . . I devoured Saint X in a day. Oyinkan Braithwaite, author of My Sister, the Serial Killer New York Times