cover image CASSANDRA'S DISK

CASSANDRA'S DISK

Angela Green, . . Dufour, $21.95 (262pp) ISBN 978-0-7206-1144-1

The melodramatic, salacious plot could have been lifted from a soap opera, but Green's assured voice gives this absorbing debut some substance. Set in New York, London and the Greek Islands, the story is told by Cassandra Byrd, a renowned Diane Arbus–style photographer in her late 30s writing a family memoir on the Greek island of Ithaca. Cassandra is the first-born of twins, a large, dark, ugly child who paves the way for fair, fine-boned sister Helen. They compete for the affection of their brittle mother, Denise, with Helen always winning. The girls' classicist father is a loving figure in their lives, but he dies while they're still teenagers, and their mother remarries an abusive man. At 15, they finally escape their mother's corrosive influence and move to Paris to live with their father's former mistress. Believing herself grotesque, sex-addict Cassandra spends most of her life trying to seduce Helen's lovers, following her now-estranged twin from one world capital to another. Helen, meanwhile, has survived her own traumatic childhood episodes (she was molested by her grandfather) to become a well-known actress. The first half of the book is a familiar abuse drama, but the narrative is significantly enlivened by Cassandra's brassy style, and Green keeps the dramatic developments coming at a brisk clip. Readers who stick with it are rewarded with a surprise ending. (Dec. 1)