A review by jasonfurman
Afternoon of a Faun by James Lasdun

4.0

I read this novella in two sittings (one would have been even better). It is a psychologically astute exploration of the multiple perspectives on an alleged #metoo moment in the 1970s that resurfaces in 2016. A disinterested narrator is independently friends with both sides of the story and hears both of their perspectives, generally swayed by whoever he talked to most recently--or by his wife's perspective when he relays the story to her. The reader finds himself (at least in my case) shifting sympathies and belief back and forth between the different characters as well. All of it unfolds in a suspenseful and at the end there is a revelation of sorts, but it still does not settle the issues--at least not for me. The telling against the backdrop of the 2016 election and the sexual assault debates it brought up sort of worked for me but I worry that element will not age as well, even though the novel itself has a timeless quality to it.