Criminals

Criminals has been on my to-read list for ages; I'm slowly reading my way through all Margot Livesey's books. The premise of this one is rather simple; Ewan, a decent, sensible, upright banker, travels from London to Scotland by bus to visit his sister Mollie, who has recently split from her husband of ten years. At one of the bus stops, Ewan finds an abandoned baby on the floor of the men's restroom; he picks it up, intending to turn it in, but his bus is beginning to leave, and he rushes to get on it, baby still in his arms. When he reaches Mollie, she takes care of the baby and invents reasons why they can't turn it in or report it right away.

The narration is from three perspectives: Ewan's, Mollie's, and Kenneth's (the abandoner of show more the baby). In addition, Mollie's husband Chae is an author, and the reader gets excerpts of his book as Ewan reads it after picking it up at Mollie's. Chae's book gives insight into his and Mollie's lives, as it is largely autobiographical.

The abandonment and subsequent discovery of the baby sets off a chain reaction which culminates in a scene at Mollie's house with the whole cast. I felt deeply for both Ewan and Mollie, both complex, well-rounded characters. The writing is beautiful but not showy, and Livesey offers a denouement that is quick but not rushed; those who like their endings tied up neatly will be pleased.

The beauty of this book is less in what happens than how it happens, in the characters' internal and interpersonal struggles.

Quotes:

Mollie felt the power of hysteria. Ewan hated displays of emotion, other people's and his own, whereas she had always been ready to abandon the small boat of reason for the wast sea of feeling. (23)

If the universe is full of lost objects and we each attract to ourselves the ones we need, Ewan must be among the least likely candidates to find a baby. (25)

But was she, she wondered...finding her way, or losing it? (70)

Now the feeling of dread was like a light shining on all his other feelings, making them stronger and more vivid....All this shimmered before him, hopelessly beyond speech. I'll write her a letter, he thought. (99)

In the last few months she had been absolutely educated in the difference between want and need. (194)

He wanted to say it was ludicrous and then, remembering his own recent behaviour, thought, no, all it took was a small talent for forgetfulness, and anything was possible. (241)

"If" - that small word which had never given him any trouble - had become the gateway to a torturous labyrinth... (260)

...the sense of how easily his luck, and everyone else's, might have been otherwise still made him tremble. (Ewan, 270) show less

An engrossing, if frustrating, read about ordinary people making seemingly small mis-steps that grow into big problems. Primarily, it is about Ewan who rescues an abandoned baby from a men's room at a bus station on his way to see his unstable sister. Mollie becomes immediately attached to the baby and conspires to keep it. Meanwhile, the baby's father - a thorough lout and small time criminal - knows what is happening and sees a way to cash in, never mind the anguish of the baby's mother. There is also a sub-plot about insider stock-trading, which seemed superfluous and distracted from the meat of the story.

3.75 stars

Ewan Munro - a decent, yet harried young banker - receives a peculiar and disturbing letter from his sister Mollie. Already poised on the brink of his own personal crisis and desperately worried about Mollie's troubled state of mind, Ewan travels north to Scotland to be with his sister in her time of need. Along the way, Ewan discovers a baby abandoned in a bus station rest-room and, unsure about what to do next, he takes the child with him to see his sister.

What follows next are the intertwining stories and motivations of five different people - and the poignant story of the many more lives caught up in binding nets of affection and responsibility, of sibling loyalty, romantic longing and maternal love. Ultimately, the question show more becomes, where does the line between doing the morally acceptable thing cross with the line that follows criminal behavior? And what is the true cost of having the best of intentions and acting on them?

First of all, let me say that this was an extraordinarily well-written story and I enjoyed it immensely. In my opinion, Ms. Livesey really captures the authenticity of her characters, and manages to make the reader care about them as people who are experiencing tremendous difficulties. That being said, I will say that this particular story seemed just the slightest bit far-fetched; although I would still give this book a definite A+! show less

This turned out better than expected, although reading on i still must get used to reading on an ipad.even though all characters had major flaws, i did care about many of them. there were 3 main simultaneous story lines, which made it somewhat difficult. as a stutterer, i was surprised at the theories regarding stuttering and the important point it played. there were so many rationalizations presented, but many of the characters did achieve growth in their self awareness.

Strangely readable because story is bizarre and disturbing. A depressed and unstable woman has been given a lost baby by her preoccupied, naive banker brother. While he intends to bring the baby to the police, he doesn't recognize or read the strange and worrying signs his sister exhibits when she delays his plan. And then things get worse.

While the plot is strange, and the characters are overdone, the novel has a real-life quality to it making it more frightening to me than many of the mysteries I read.

I remember reading good reviews of this book when it came out a couple of years ago. I did not pick it up then, but did so recently at the Chapters' bargain table (where one can often find quite good novels at only $6-7), and am glad that I did so. I liked this, and read it through in one-go on this cool, cloudy Sunday. The story is slightly implausible, but Livesey brings it off: a merchant banker, taking a bus to see his sister in Scotland who is depressed over a breakup with her husband, finds a baby in a cubicle in a men's room at a bus stop, picks it up and then gets back on the bus to get his luggage off, but the bus leaves, he sits down, and the story develops from there. His sister is totally taken with the baby (the child she show more never had and longed for with her husband) and schemes to keep her. But the sister is sliding into madness; the child serves to stop that slide, temporarily, but when the prospect arises of having to return the child and recognize that it does have at least a mother that loves it, Mollie (the sister) begins to lose her grip on reality. One thing after another prolongs the delay in notifying the authorities and finally Ewan (the banker) returns to London and then on to Milan for a business trip, believing that his sister has taken the baby to the police. The real father of the child, a laid-off lout, who had left the baby in the bus station washroom, has witnessed the whole thing and knows where the sister lives. He develops a scheme for blackmail, all the time fending off the mother (with whom he is temporarily living with again) who is frantic with fear and concern.

The story really hinges, at the beginning, on the one moment of inattention by Ewan in how he responds upon finding the child; something totally out of character for him, and one of those "fate-fuelled" instances that sets life down a totally unforseen path, where each incident, small in and of itself, weaves into a network of lies and deceits and rationalizations that cannot be undone, but must be smashed or cut apart. The smashing is in the climax of the novel and Livesey builds to it very nicely.

No one shines or stands out in this story, but it is one of love betrayed, of secrets told, of duplicity, lust, loneliness, selfishness, greed, forgetfulness, and even banal procrastination. A good story, well-told, and well-written. show less

A young banker responds to his sister's plea to come to Scotland to help her. On the way, in a bus station, he finds a 4 months old baby girl and almost by accident takes her with him.
Sort of lukewarm