Those Who Knew

The personal is political in this new novel from Novey (Ways To Disappear), which takes place on an unnamed island popular with volunteer tourists from the United States. Activist Lena discovers a sweater in her handbag that belongs to a dead, possibly murdered, student activist named Maria P. Does the sweater really belong to Maria? Did Lena's ex-boyfriend, popular and populist politician Victor, murder her? Victor is on the cusp of a politically advantageous marriage, and he has a history of violence that Lena experienced firsthand when they were students. But unlike Maria, Lena came from money. Her family had ties to the oligarchy that ran the island during her revolutionary days, and she survived. Lena wants justice for Maria but is haunted by her instead. While Lena is the primary focus of this novel, the perspective shifts among the characters throughout. By concentrating on the interconnected and very personal stories of each, Novey negotiates the surreal reality of an aging port city that is both victim and beneficiary of globalization.