Hernan Diaz is an audacious storyteller whose first novel In the Distance was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Trust is his intriguing second novel. It spans almost a century, but is set largely in America during the 1920s and ’30s and the Great Depression. Told as a series of evocative stories, it is engrossing and explores wealth and power along with corruption and truth – all through the lives of an elite New York couple, who are first introduced to us as Benjamin and Helen Rask.

Benjamin is a very successful, if lonely, bachelor and Wall Street businessman when he marries Helen, the brilliant daughter of an eccentric but impoverished, aristocratic Boston family. As Benjamin’s wealth and prestige increases, Helen becomes a generous philanthropist in her own right. When tragedy strikes we learn more about the ‘truth’ of their relationship and lives. But what is that truth about this legendary couple and how their fortune was made? As you read the subsequent stories, you are presented with alternative histories, cleverly narrated in the forms of a memoir, autobiography and a diary.

Diaz gives us a rich, historical picture of America at the time: New York society during the roaring ’20s; the financial and banking world and frenzy that lead up to the collapse of Wall Street; and the Great Depression. There are multiple layers within these stories of America at this time.

Trust is a dramatic story, full of suspense and tension. Ultimately, the mystery behind the truth is revealed. Completely satisfying reading.

Reviewed by Karen Williams