For Love of Sarah

Tabloid-style sensationalism meshes with the literary device of an unreliable narrator in this brooding legal thriller hinging on alleged paternal incest and verifiable murder. Narrator Georgie Hillman lives with her husband, the once-promising sculptor Tim Hillman, on an idyllic island community off the New England coast, where they enjoy nearly godlike status as a model couple. When Zeke, the Hillman's three-year-old son, dies of cancer, Georgie, grief-stricken after her lengthy vigil at the hospital, resumes her place in the home only to discover that Tim has mysteriously alienated the affection of eight-year-old Sarah. Heartbroken and confused, Georgie stumbles--or says she does--across a portfolio of shocking photographs showing Tim and Sarah engaged in incestuous acts. Outraged, Georgie coldly puts a bullet in Tim's head while he is asleep. Devastated by the tragedy, Sarah rejects her mother. The nearly catatonic Georgie is defended by a notoriously flamboyant womens' rights lawyer, who argues that Georgie was acting in self-defense by proxy for her helpless daughter. Scott manages to work on several levels at once, portraying petty small-town jealousies, and, especially, the way love can color or obscure the truth. As the trial unfolds, the question of Georgie's competence to determine what really happened--and ultimately the question of whether she is telling the truth--enthralls the reader until the final word. (July)