Simone van der Vlugt's The Reunion

Memories do strange things to people sometimes.  In Simone van der Vlugt's The Reunion Sabine Kroese will find that some memories are best left undisturbed.  When Sabine was fifteen her best friend Isabel disappeared.  Sabine and Isabel grew up together in the small seaside town of Den Helder, and one sunny summer afternoon Isabel rides her bike in the direction of the Dark Dunes to meet someone and is never heard from again.

Nine years later Sabine is living and working in Amsterdam.  She reads a small notice in the newspaper announcing a reunion at her old school, Helder High.  She doesn't plan to attend, but all of a sudden old memories are being stirred up.  Sabine has a faulty memory.  She's recovering from a nervous breakdown that's kept her out of work for months.  After the disappearance of her friend when she was younger, she simply shut down.  Whatever happened to Isabel traumatized Sabine to the point where she has repressed memories of that day and now has only vague recollections of it.

Narrated in the first person, Sabine slowly reveals to the reader how her friendship with Isabel, once strong and deep, somehow took a turn for the worse as they grew into teenagers.  At one time the two were inseparable; Sabine looked after her friend who suffered from occasional fits due to epilepsy.  It's no secret that kids can be cruel to each other, however.  Isabel grew into an attractive young woman able to twist any man around her little finger at will, and somehow Sabine simply was left behind.  Isabel became the popular girl with a flock of friends around her and Sabine became the outsider, and you know how troublesome outsiders find it to fit in with the popular kids.

The problem is, it's happening all over again to Sabine.  Returning to work in her administrative position in a city bank, she's found that the woman she hired before her breakdown has now usurped her position.  Sabine can barely function part time in the hostile environment that her coworker has created for her.  And now she finds that she's having flashbacks to that day when Isabel disappeared, revealing she may have witnessed the crime.  If there was one.  Isabel's body was never found.  The only bright spot in Sabine's life is Olaf who also works at the bank, a friend of her older brother's that she's only recently met up with again.

This is an anxious, claustrophobic story. You know something's not right, but you're not sure what.  There's an aura of uncertainty throughout the entire story.  You know how unreliable first person narrators can be, especially ones with faulty memories.  Sabine (and the reader as well) begins questioning everyone she was close to as a teenager, her brother, his friends (including Olaf and a boy she had been secretly dating).  The Reunion is a nicely suspenseful thriller that can easily be read in a weekend.  Gloomy, overcast skies and rainy afternoons recommended (that was my weekend weather anyway, which only aided in the already oppressive atmosphere of the novel), but not required.  I believe this is Dutch author Simone van der Vlugt's first thriller, though she is already a popular children's author in the Netherlands.  Hopefully it won't be her last.   

Comments

[Matt]

As I'm reading your review, I can sense something is shady, not just with the disappearance, but the "reappearance" or the reunion part. I have never heard of this author but will give this book a go. It sounds just right for a laidback afternoon.

[Nicole]

This sounds so good. And the cover looks sinister as well. What happened to the person riding the back.

[Amy @ My Friend Amy]

This sounds really good! Going on the wishlist.

[BooksPlease]

It's going on my wishlist too.

[Litlove]

This sounds so intriguing! Definitely on my list, too.

[Stefanie]

This sounds good. Even the cover seemed ominous before I read your post and you gave me chills!

[Nadia]

This book sounds so good. I can't wait to read it. Its definitely going on my wishlist!

[catharina]

The Reunion was indeed Simone van der Vlugt's first,since then four thrillers have been published in Holland.

[FleurFisher]

I suspected this might be going on my wishlist when you mentioned it a few days ago. It's definitely on now!

[Danielle]

Matt--This could easily be read over a weekend. She grabs you pretty early on and you just keep turning the pages to find out what happened to Isabel!
Nicole--Isn't the cover great? They really captured the atmosphere well with this one!
Amy--I really enjoyed it and after I finished I wished I still had more to read. Hopefully more of her work will be translated!
Booksplease--This is a UK edition, so you should be able to finsd it easily.
Litlove--I do like first person narrators. They always make things interesting.
Stefanie--For once the cover fits the contents perfectly. It was a creepy-ish read actually.
Nadia--I had read about this when it was first being published in Australia about a year ago, and had it on my wishlist for a while! I was happy to finally get my hands on a copy.
Catharina--I was wondering if she had published more thrillers. I knew she had written children's books. I really do hope more of her work will be translated! It sounds as though she is very popular in the Netherlands.
FleurFisher--I zipped right through this one! It was a nice, fast, entertaining read!

[BooksPlease]

Our library has a copy - I've reserved it!

[iliana]

This sounds really good so I'm going to see if my library has it. I love those unreliable narrators - gives you something more to think about!

[Danielle]

BooksPlease--I hope you enjoy it as well. It's a pretty quick, entertaining read!
Iliana--It's been published in the UK, so I'm not sure how widely available it'll be here, but it's certainly one to keep an eye out for. And I like first person narrators as well. You get an interesting perspective of the story!