cover image Public Garden

Public Garden

James P. Moran. Crown Publishers, $21 (215pp) ISBN 978-0-517-59606-7

In Moran's thought-provoking first novel, Jack Donnelly is an average, somewhat insecure law associate at a prestigious Boston firm who has scrambled a few rungs up the corporate ladder. He's at once attracted to and repelled by Alison Moore, a shy, standoffish colleague recently hired--and roundly disliked--for her impeccable credentials. Their brief affair has gone sour, and as the book opens a guilt-ridden Jack, who has accompanied Alison to an abortion clinic, abandons her for the solace of a bar. They return to work via a favorite haunt, the Public Garden, where Alison pulls a gun and wings her erstwhile lover with a bullet. The resulting media circus strips each character to the bone. Moran acquits himself credibly with Alison: her flat affect hides years of pain, betrayal and confusion that call into question Jack's status as her victim. Viewed in flashbacks, their affair is harder to credit, being suddenly sparked and as quickly extinguished. Strong courtroom scenes plus a wry eye for media-driven myths and the bumptious competition among young legals make this a piquant, often absorbing read. (May)