The Honeymoon

The Honeymoon

by Justin Haythe

Picador $124

This debut by a successful screenwriter is a study of expatriate anomie. Gordon Garrety is a young American who has led a nomadic life, trailing after his mother, Maureen, as she wanders through galleries, ostensibly writing an art guide to Europe. A lifetime of accommodating his mother's selfish and capricious needs has rendered Gordon incapable of developing strong feelings about anything or making decisions. At 21, he meets Annie, several years his senior. On their first encounter, they make love in a park. Soon after, they marry. When they finally take their long-delayed honeymoon in Venice - with his mother and her ex-fiance in tow - violence pricks their happy bubble and lays bare the emptiness at the core of their gilded lives.