‘Betrayal’ begins with one of the novel’s most obvious ‘betrayals’. Eva, a high-powered executive accustomed to success, has always had a take-charge attitude to everything in life, including her marriage to Henrik, a stay-at-home writer and the father of their young son, Axel. But when Henrik finally musters up the courage to tell her that he wants to end their fifteen-year relationship because he just doesn’t ‘have fun anymore’, Eva’s ordered world suddenly spins out of control. In another part of Stockholm, Jonas, a twenty-five-year-old postman, keeps vigil at the bedside of his older girlfriend, Anna, who has been in a coma for two-and-half years following a mysterious swimming accident. Jonas, who is an obsessive-compulsive, and who has a family history marked by betrayal, suddenly comes upon the distraught Eva in a bar. Eva bears an uncanny resemblance to Anna. It is here, where these two stories converge, that Alvtegen’s plot begins its snake-like descent into the private hells of individuals consumed by obsession.

The theme of the novel, betrayal, is obvious even before the story begins and is, of course, its title. However, betrayal can take many forms, real or imagined, and Alvtegen’s novel explores its effects on those who are betrayed. Jonas’s mental condition, for example, is directly traceable to his past – his father’s betrayal of his mother through repeated acts of infidelity and his own involvement as an unwitting accomplice. Eva, on the other hand, sees the breakdown of her marriage as a betrayal not only of her, but also of her son, Axel, and of the generations of couples in her family, including her parents, who had long, successful unions. And it doesn’t end there. Betrayal, of one form or another, comes up again and again and is largely the catalyst for the series of events that take place in the novel. In fact, in a rather dark view of the world, aside from Eva’s selfless love for her son, few relationships flourish in ‘Betrayal’.

Perhaps this is due, in part, to the stresses of modern life. Eva is so busy being ‘super mom’ to her son, running the household and managing her job that she has little time for her husband. Her thoughts – even at the most critical moments – are punctuated by mental notes to herself to pay the bills, call the plumber, or have something repaired. Henrik, for his part, sees Eva as ‘an impatient steam locomotive’ who has robbed him of his manhood by taking control of everything. He finds solace in the arms of Linda, his son’s daycare teacher. And, as for Jonas, he is a victim of his own loneliness. Estranged from his family, he lives out his days in a tiny apartment in the heart of a large and impersonal metropolis, his only companion a comatose girlfriend.

One of Alvtegen’s most effective devices is to literally get ‘inside’ the minds of her characters and describe the same scene from different perspectives. Surprisingly, this never feels repetitive. In fact, it helps build suspense because it allows the action to unfold gradually. The structure of the novel, therefore, mirrors the reading experience: the reader slowly pieces together the story by collecting impressions, information and important clues, coming at the main narrative from different angles. Moreover, the characters’ snide or sarcastic asides add a dash of humour to an otherwise dark tale.

Perhaps one of the reasons for the success of ‘Betrayal’ is the fact that, like all great genre writing, it breaks the mold. While the plot is paramount, Alvtegen’s novel is as much about relationships – past, present, and future – as it is about what actually happens. More psychological drama than murder mystery, it explores what happens to individuals under great emotional pressure. Granted, its particular brand of pop psychology might not hold under medical scrutiny, but it is certainly convincing enough within the bounds of the fiction to keep you reading till the very last page.

Shahbano Bilgrami is a freelance writer and copy editor who lives in Morgantown, West Virginia. Aside from being a regular book and film reviewer, she has had poetry published in An Anthology (OUP 1997) and has authored/contributed to several children’s textbooks during her eight-year period as editor at Oxford University Press, Pakistan. She is currently working on her first novel.

© 2006 Laura Hird All rights reserved.