‘Bind’ impossible to put down

“The Double Bind”

by Chris Bohjalian (Shaye Areheart, 361 pages, $25)

“The Double Bind” is simply one of the best written, most compelling, artfully woven novels to grace bookshelves in years.

Immediately after the spellbinding surprise ending, readers will want to begin again at the first page. It’s that good.

The latest from Chris Bohjalian, the best-selling author of “Midwives,” tells the painful, yet seemingly straightforward tale of Laurel Estabrook, an appealing and incredibly realistic 30-year-old who was attacked as a college sophomore while riding her bike in the hills of Vermont.

While Laurel has just a few close friends, a much older father-figure boyfriend and prefers to stay close to home, she seems to have mostly recovered from her trauma. She refuses to elicit pity from others.

Bohjalian crafts his protagonist so carefully, she’s more than alive – she’s a woman we know, or someone we love, or even ourselves.

She’s competent, respected and well-liked at the homeless shelter where she works. The director is so confident in her skills that she hopes to see Laurel take her place one day.

When a former client dies and leaves behind a box of photographs – including artful shots of Martin Luther King, Chuck Berry, Paul Newman and other luminaries – Laurel is tasked with putting together a show of his work, intended to raise money for the shelter.

Instead, she unravels a mystery and a personal connection to the old man that gradually consumes her.

Bohjalian includes therapist’s notes and photographs taken by the real homeless man who inspired him to write the novel.

And, in perhaps his most unusual device, fictional characters created by F. Scott Fitzgerald in “The Great Gatsby” take on real roles in the book.