Book Review: "The Vanishing Point" by Elizabeth Brundage
“The Vanishing Point” by Elizabeth Brundage
Synopsis: Julian Ladd and Rye Adler cross paths as photography students in the exclusive Brodsky Workshop. When Rye needs a roommate, Julian moves in, and a quiet, compulsive envy takes root, assuring, at least in his own mind, that he will never achieve Rye's certain success. Both men are fascinated with their beautiful and talented classmate, Magda, whose captivating images of her Polish neighborhood set her apart, and each will come to know her intimately - a woman neither can possess and only one can love.
Twenty years later, long after their paths diverge, Rye is at the top of his field, famous for his photographs of celebrities and far removed from the downtrodden and disenfranchised subjects who'd secured his reputation as the eye of his generation. When Magda reenters his life, asking for help only he can give, Rye finds himself in a broken landscape of street people and addicts, forcing him to reckon with the artist he once was, until his search for a missing boy becomes his own desperate fight to survive.
Months later, when Julian discovers Rye's obituary, the paper makes it sound like a suicide. Despite himself, Julian attends the funeral, where there is no casket and no body. This sudden reentry into a world he thought he left behind forces Julian to question not only Rye's death, but the very foundations of his life.
In this eerie and evocative novel, Elizabeth Brundage establishes herself as one of the premiere authors of literary fiction at work today.
Rating (out of 5): 4
Review: Elizabeth Brundage writes truly fantastic literary suspense novels, and after her previous novel “All Things Cease to Appear” (which has been made into new Netflix thriller “Things Heard and Seen”), I’ve eagerly awaited her next book. I truly enjoyed this new novel and was engrossed by it, with only a few minor misgivings about it.
The novel has a “The Secret History”-esque feeling to it: youthful indiscretions irrevocably alter the future of young students from the Brodsky Workshop, an elite and somewhat mysterious photography program. Rye and Julian had been roommates during this time and it’s clear upon the novel’s opening that there is an unspoken coldness and rivalry between the two.
The novel opens with Julian’s attendance at Rye’s funeral, some twenty years after they last meet, though Rye’s body has not been found. There is an eerie air to the event, and it sets the tone for the mysteries within. As with any mystery novel, I don’t want to give away too much, but Julian and Rye’s lives have remained far more intertwined in more ways than we could possibly imagine.
The book touches on so many of our societal ills: late-stage capitalism, relational indiscretion, opioid abuse. It’s a truly affecting and powerful novel that I believe will continue to remain relevant—much of the plot can exist out of a specific time. I had minor issues with a few points of believability near the end of the novel, but overall devoured it and truly enjoyed it.
TL;DR: An excellent (and well-researched) literary mystery from a powerhouse author.
If you liked this, try:
“All Things Cease to Appear” by Elizabeth Brundage (Bookshop | Kindle)
“The Secret History” by Donna Tartt (Bookshop | Kindle)
“History of Wolves” by Emily Fridlund (Bookshop | Kindle)
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