Helms’s mesmerizing debut novel (after story collection American Wives
) takes readers to Ankara, Turkey, in the mid-1970s, where 12-year old Canada lives with her mother, Grace, and her father, Rand, whose intelligence career is shrouded in secrecy and sends the family to far-flung locales. By the time they’re posted to Ankara, Canada is grappling with the inevitable insecurities and yearnings of puberty, and Grace feels trapped in a loveless marriage. Even when Rand is home, he shows little interest in domestic affairs, leaving Grace mainly to socialize with other Western expatriates and a small circle of wealthy Turks. Partly as a consequence of having lived so long in a world of secrets and cover stories, Grace hasn’t learned how to relate to people (or how to let them relate to her), while Canada is mired in her own parallel, secretive universe of cruel adolescence. Helms uses dazzling imagery to mine the cultural and economic divides between the diplomatic enclaves and Turkish Ankara, as well as the chasm between Canada and Grace, which widens as they seek validation outside their home, with unforeseen consequences. Elegant prose and exacting insight illuminate Helms’s tale of intrigue and deception. (Mar.)
