Valerie Martin is the author of three short story collections and eight novels, including Mary Reilly, The Great Divorce, the Orange Prize–winning Property, and Trespass ( Selection ).
The Story: Set in the New York theater world of the 1970s, Martin’s novel explores the disturbing friendship between two struggling young actors. While on holiday at the Jersey Shore, 22-year-old Edward Day leans on a faulty pier railing and tumbles into the sea. He is saved from drowning by Guy Margate, a fellow thespian who bears an uncanny resemblance to the handsome Edward. Over the years, the brooding, mysterious Guy becomes Edward’s main rival for acting roles and the affections of the lovely Madeleine Delavergne. And through it all, Guy never lets Edward forget that he owes him his life.
Nan A. Talese. 286 Pages. $25. ISBN: 9780385525848
Los Angeles Times
"The intimacy of Edward’s narrative voice is one of the novel’s most startling achievements. … Martin’s symbolic substructure—layers of repetition and mirroring—is so skillfully embedded in her story that we feel its effects without realizing it, like an understated but persuasive musical score." Regina Marler
NY Times Book Review
"Martin builds an ominous tension almost Hitchcockian in its trenchant and perverse knowledge about the human animal. … Edward Day has its deep pleasures, particularly in the ingenious way Martin probes the sensibility of an artist while using it as a prism through which to tell a tale." Laurie Winer
Telegraph (UK)
"Martin draws us skilfully and boldly into a world in which near drownings, lost loves, stalkers, and the loaded gun which must finally go off, are not nearly as terrifying as the unknowability of the human psyche." Kamila Shamsie
Times (UK)
"The best thing about Martin’s novel is its portrait of the life of an actor. … It is a testament to the author’s skill that Edward’s shortcomings only serve to make the book more enjoyable." Stephen Amidon
Newsday
"Unfortunately, the most formative and dramatic things about Edward are recalled in the first 30 pages. … Martin can’t keep Edward from sounding like a Method-acting parody." Linda Winer
Critical Summary
Like Martin’s novel Mary Reilly, which is narrated by Dr. Jekyll’s faithful servant, The Confessions of Edward Day manages to be both subtle and forceful. Critics praised Martin’s ability to slowly build tension and keep readers on the very edge of their seats. They also enjoyed her depiction of the struggling actor’s world, with its endless waiter jobs, auditions, insecurity, and cutthroat competition. One notable exception, the critic from Newsday, felt that Edward’s character bordered on caricature, particularly when he admires himself in the mirror and makes wry observations about life and love. Still, most critics found Edward to be a flawed, intriguing, protagonist, and definitely one worth getting to know.