Await Your Reply, by Dan Chaon. (New York: Ballantine Books, 2009). Note: Scheduled publication date is September 2009. This review is based on an advanced reading copy.
The notion that we can be anybody we want to be takes on a new twist in this novel of aliases, identity theft, and fraud. Author Dan Chaon roams the permeable boundaries of self, as he demonstrates how easily his characters abandon old lives and assume new ones.
The main character of the novel is Hayden, variously described as a genius and a schizophrenic. We're never sure we meet him directly, though we come to know him through the reminiscences of his identical twin brother, Miles, and through the clues the author drops in the stories of the other characters in the book.
Miles, now 31 years old, has spent the last decade searching for his twin brother, who vanished at 21. He is unable to define his own life's path without knowing where his brother is. Hayden leaves clues to his ever-changing whereabouts in rambling late night phone calls and obscure letters, but Miles is always one step behind him.
Ryan, a college student who is about to flunk out of school, decides that his whole life has been a lie, when he hears some shocking family news. He disappears and begins a new life, on the wrong side of the law, with his uncle.
Lucy is a high school student whose parents died in her sophomore year. She takes to the road after graduation with her history teacher, who promises her a life of riches and excitement.
These stories, fascinating in themselves, are even more intriguing when the author pulls all the threads together. Chaon's character development is excellent, and he has an especially good feel for the young adults he creates. I highly recommend this novel. It's a great combination of literary fiction and a novel of suspense.
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