The Reserve: A Novel

By Russell Banks

“At once a harrowing mystery, an illuminating psychological novel of subverted love and family dysfunction, and a powerful commentary on class structure in America . . . [Banks is] one of America’s finest contemporary fiction writers.” —Boston Globe

Part love story, part murder mystery, set on the cusp of the Second World War, Russell Banks's sharp-witted and deeply engaging novel raises dangerous questions about class, politics, art, love, and madness—and explores what happens when two powerful personalities, trapped at opposite ends of a social divide, begin to break the rules.

Vanessa Cole is a stunningly beautiful and wild heiress. Twice-married, she has been scandalously linked to rich and famous men. On the night of July 4, 1936, inside her family’s remote Adirondack Mountain enclave known as the Reserve, Vanessa will lose her father to a heart attack—and meet Jordan Groves, a seductively carefree local artist. Jordan is easy prey for Vanessa’s electrifying charm. But when Vanessa becomes unhinged by her father’s unexpected death, she begins to spin out of control, manipulating and destroying the lives of all who cross her path.

Moving from the secluded beauty of the Adirondacks to war-torn Spain and fascist Germany, and filled with characters that pierce the heart, The Reserve is a clever, incisive, and passionately romantic novel of suspense and drama.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061809583

Russell Banks

Russell Banks published ten novels, six short story collections, and four poetry collections. His novels Cloudsplitter and Continental Drift were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. Two of Banks's novels have been adapted for feature-length films, The Sweet Hereafter (winner of the Grand Prix and International Critics Prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival) and Affliction (which earned a 'Best Supporting Actor' Oscar for James Coburn). His work has won numerous awards, among them a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowships, O. Henry and Best American Short Story Award, and the Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. One of America's most prestigious fiction writers, Russell Banks was president of the International Parliament of Writers and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He passed away in January 2023.

Reviews for The Reserve

[cybrarian_wi_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I had really high hopes for this book and I think I gave it a fair chance but I just couldn't get into this book. None of the characters had any appeal for me and the storyline was a little too slow moving.

[billpilgrim_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I did not enjoy this one as much as the other Banks' books that I have read - including Continental Drift, Rule of the Bone, and Story of Jamaica. But, I enjoyed the Adirondack setting, having lived in Plattsburgh years ago and hiked the high peaks often.

[hairball_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Banks has done better, much better. I really like RB, but when he misses, he misses big. I read this several months ago, and don't recall much (actually, I recall quite a bit more than I thought I did, but--spoiler alert--not whether the main character dies in Spain or not). I'm thinking that if he did indeed die, that was my favorite part.

[markmeg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

O.K.., but plodding.

[jawalter · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm still not sure what to say about this book. I wasn't expecting it to be so much of a soap opera, but ... well, that's what it is. What's really making it difficult to evaluate, however, is that it feels so incomplete. The flash forwards tell the eventual fates of two of the characters, but leaves two others shrouded in mystery. But even in the case of the characters whose lives are given a final punctuation, I felt as though a lot was left unexplored.

I can't help but wonder if Banks decided he wanted to write a trashy novel, but in the end couldn't commit to it.

[ccayne_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I had never read Russell Banks before and I definitely should not have started with this title. It was full of trite dialog and had a preposterous plot, replete with characters which were more caricatures than real people. I only read it because I have a connection to the real reserve which is not like the one in this book.

[davedonelson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a book about bad choices made by less than perfect people. In other words, about your life and mine. The basic difference is that almost all of these people are rich, but trust me, their wealth does not improve their decision-making prowess.

[bnation-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

One of my favourite writers but I thought this book was crap.

[chazzw_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Maybe I’d better start reading reviews again. I thought I’d picked up a Russell Banks book. Instead, I get Danielle Steele on steroids. Or should I say, HGH. Well, this is not to say that this was a drag to read. It fairly leapt along from start to finish. Thing is, there were no surprises along the way, and in reading, one didn’t expect any. What you read is what you get.I suppose movie rights are in the offing. Certainly, it’s ‘cinematic’ from page one, and I’d submit, opaquely so. Funny, I’m thinking that this is not a book I would have bought from the local B&N for example, based on the cover art. Since I borrowed this from the library, it’s not a book I picked up and perused before a purchase.The characters are strong (too strong?) and well-drawn. But maybe they’re over-sized. They fit best, really, up there on the silver screen. With music a-crescendoing.Jordan Groves is rich, he’s an artist, he flies his own plane, he’s a free-thinker, and handsome. Hey. Chicks dig him. His wife Alicia is a Nordic Goddess. He’s got two great kids. Vanessa Cole is his female counterpart in many ways, though damaged in some core way. Beautiful, rich and damaged. Hey. That’s sexy! Then there’s Hubert St. Germain who seems to have been raised by wolves in the wilds of the Adirondacks - hunter, trail guide, trapper, and that wool plaid standby - Woodsman. Eh….maybe a little stupid, Socially inept, at least. The strong, silent type, yeah?Ah, enough. It ain’t that bad. It rips right along just fine, even if the denouement is a bit fey. It’s just a funny book for me to have been reading. I’ll even go so far as to say that if’n you ain’t me, you just might just love it!

[pdebolt_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Set in the 1930s, this is a story of multiple deceptions, class distinctions, madness, possible pedophilia, and two very strong personalities. It would make a good movie, but the book itself isn't as engrossing as the subject matter would indicate. The descriptive passages of the reserve were, for me, too long and too intricate.

[steve02476 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Meh. Didn't really care for it. Seemed like a lot was clichéd. I guess just not my kind of story.