Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

 

The story begins at a highly competitive high school for the performing arts.  The place is New York, the time the early 1980's.  Mr. Kingsley is the lodestone around which the drama department revolves.  He uses his talent and access to force the students in his program to confront themselves and their fears, to trust each other and their talent.  Two students stand out.  David is handsome and rich but hesitant.  Sarah is an outsider, her contributions to the plays wardrobe mistress rather than onstage performer.  The two share a summer romance and then spend the next two years in a love-hate relationship that those around them recognize but who no one knows how to move forward.  

Then the book shifts.  We see the same events from the viewpoint of Karen twenty years later.  She was another student who stayed behind the scenes.  After a successful career as an executive assistant and organizer, she returns home to the city where they all grew up.  David is back in town also, working now as a producer and director.  Sarah has become an author and has a hugely successful book out.  When Karen reconnects with Sarah at an author signing in Los Angeles, their reminiscences lead to Sarah agreeing to come to the debut of David's next play, which Karen is starring in.  What happens there is surprising yet in some ways long overdue.

This novel won the 2019 National Book Award for Fiction.  It explores the relationships between teenagers with their overheated dramatic friendships.  It also delves into the trust that teachers demand from their students and how easily that trust can be abused.  Although none of the characters are particularly easy to relate with, their stories are fascinating and show the power of friendship and betrayal.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.