THE SEA BELOW MY WINDOW

The temporary amnesiac is a familiar character, playing a pivotal role in many a mystery novel, but Danish novelist Sarvig (1921–1981) gives the trope a more sophisticated spin in this exploration of the nature of identity, originally published in Denmark in 1960. Waking up alone in a room on a mysterious island, "Miriam" is brought up short by the sight of her face in the mirror. She doesn't recognize what she sees, and as she wanders out of the house and around the island, the questions pile up: Where is she? What kind of life is she supposed to have? How did she end up here? Her first breakthrough comes when she befriends a local woman named Sheila Alcott, but even as their conversations become increasingly intimate, Miriam has the sense that Alcott is concealing some crucial facts about Miriam's supposed husband, Anthony, who is oddly missing. Her next breakthrough occurs when she meets a mysteriously attractive stranger, Dave, and realizes that she has been conducting a clandestine affair with him. Sarvig continues to parcel out narrative information in bits and pieces, a tactic that keeps the suspense level high in the novel's first half. But the tactic is analogous to keeping a finger in a swelling dike, and Sarvig is forced to spill out a rush of information in a single chapter to shore up a complex, labyrinthine ending in which Miriam discovers her real identity as a political pawn in an international chess game of East vs. West that also involves her father, a brilliant research scientist. Sarvig's ability to generate mystery and tension is noteworthy, but the rushed ending mars an otherwise captivating, dreamily mesmerizing novel. (Mar.)