Trust, Hernan Diaz, author; Edoardo Balleriini, Jonathan Davis, Mozhan Marno, Orlagh Cassidy, narrators
Two narratives about two families compete for attention in this novel. In an attempt to examine power, to dissect the reasons for the economic failure of 1929, and to examine the meaning of the word “trust”, The author has woven a complicated tale with many characters, some hard to keep track of, so I recommend a print book, rather than this audio, although it is performed very well by the narrators. The last part is especially moving as the narrator gave life to Mildred Bevel, an important character, even as she lay dying. This portion of the book is very lyrical.
The book introduces the reader to a novel about the fictional Rask and Bevel families. Helen Brevoort and Benjamin Rask both march to the beat of a different drummer, both prefer their personal, private space to all others, and when they meet, they recognize they are one and the same, and a match is made. Benjamin is known to be a financial genius. She has the gift of memory and mathematics. They work well together. Helen’s father descended into madness, and unfortunately, as time passes, so does Helen Rask. The Rasks survived the many financial crises, right up until 1929, which actually solidified their wealthy place in this fictional history, although Benjamin was accused of engineering the actual crash with his financial maneuvers. As Helen’s illness worsens, she is subjected to extreme treatments in an attempt to cure her. The controversial treatment eventually takes her life, and many blame Rask for selecting the physician and allowing it. This part of the book is based on a novel called “Bonds”. The author, Harold Vanner, portrays Rask as losing his touch after the loss of his wife, his muse, so to speak, so that after Helen’s death, he is all but erased historically. Ironically, Harold Vanner is then erased from history by Andrew Bevel, the man on whose life Rask’s is based.
In the second narrative, which is based on the lives of the Bevel family, Mildred and Andrew Bevel, who are wildly successful in the financial world, Andrew is horrified by the novelist’s depiction of his wife as mad, and himself, as cruel. He wants another book written to describe her more accurately, and to paint a more heroic picture of himself. His idea of accuracy, in his non-fiction book, is to actually alter the reality and create a fantasy, a far more beautiful picture of his wife and himself, than the one Vanner created. He also wants to make Mildred more benign and less influential, although she is his partner and influences the genius behind the throne. In this way, as he reduces her influence, his star will shine brighter.
Andrew Bevel hires a young woman to write the story, Ida Prentice, whose real name is Ida Partenza, . When she discovers that he wants to “whitewash” the story about his wife and expects her to alter their history, she agrees to his terms so as not to lose her job. Bevel is very wealthy and is able to control the narrative, even to erase Harold Vanner from history, so he could also destroy her. He demands utmost secrecy and will not allow her to divulge her work to anyone. She soon discovers that even those she trusts most are untrustworthy. She learns that trust is very fluid, as those closest to her betray her.
Decades later, she reviews the family papers in the library, and once again she is enlightened as she finds that the records have been altered; the truth has been erased. It is her narrative, the one she made up, that remains as the historic memory of the Bevels. Only his sudden death prevented it from ever being published. As she researches the papers, she finds the journals that Mildred wrote; she struggles to interpret them, and she learns the real truth. Mildred was the guiding light of their financial success, manipulating the market with her mathematics skill, but because of the times, Andrew was given all the credit due her. Ida learns that no one is totally innocent and without blame. Truth and trust are elusive. The illusion of the powerful is just an illusion. As Andrew Bevel instructed, he was able to alter and bend reality because of his wealth and his power. This is true, even today, as the wealthy use their influence to manipulate our world.

TRUST is a really difficult book for me to review because I�¢??m not sure that I understand it correctly. Here is what I know.







TRUST can be considered to be a novel written by Hernan Diaz. It consists of four stories: a novel written by the fictitious Harold Vanner, an autobiography (actually more fiction) written by the fictitious Andrew Bevel, a memoir (actually more fiction ) written by the fictitious Ida Partenza, and a diary (again, more fiction) written by the fictitious Mildred Bevel. These stories make up the entirety of TRUST. They are not just stories within a story but, rather, stories that are the story. They are accompanied by no explanation but leave the reader to guess and not fully understand until almost the end. At least, I think I now understand, although maybe not fully.







I would say that Ida is the main character. You won�¢??t know that until you are more than halfway through the book, though.







The novel BONDS is presented first because, you will later realize, this is the story that Ida reads first. It is the story of a filthy rich man who made out like a bandit during the Depression and is thought by some to have caused the Depression. You will later understand that BONDS is considered to be the real-life story of Andrew Bevel. The problem is, you are left to understand later too much. That makes for a frustrating read.







Next comes MY LIFE, the autobiography written by Andrew Bevel to correct the implications in BONDS. This is an unfinished manuscript. You will understand in the next story that MY LIFE is actually ghost written by Ida. And you won�¢??t understand why it is unfinished until you read the next story. There are similarities between MY LIFE and BONDS, but you won�¢??t be sure that the husband and wife in MY LIFE are the husband and wife in BONDS until you read the next story. I was still frustrated with a lot of unanswered questions.







Lots of questions are answered in the next story, A MEMOIR, REMEMBERED by Ida Partenza. Now Ida explains much of what I didn�¢??t get.







FUTURES, Mildred Bevel�¢??s diary, explains what Ida didn�¢??t get but not until years and years later. Although Ida already understood that Mildred, not Andrew, was the main character in MY LIFE (and BONDS), she didn�¢??t understand to what extent until she read FUTURES.







TRUST talks a lot about finances leading to the Great Depression. I found it frustrating more often than not. I�¢??m still not sure what point Diaz was trying to make; he surely was trying to make a point.