Siam

Siam or The Woman Who Shot a Man is a slim, elegant novel by Lily Tuck. It takes place in Thailand in 1967 as the US begins bombing North Vietnam.

Claire, a young newlywed has just moved to Thailand with her husband James, a government contractor. Shortly after arriving, she meets Jim Thompson, an American Millionaire who is the owner of the Thai Silk Company. Within weeks, he disappears in the jungle and Claire becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him.

Tuck captures beautifully the strangeness of being in a foreign place. With little to occupy her days, Claire begins a slow descent into loneliness and even paranoia. The novel moves slowly and not a lot happens, yet  I felt transported to a particular time and place in history. A spare yet gripping novel.