Hello. I'm Catherine Weller and this is The Open Book.

This week's selection is The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld.

In 1909, Sigmund Freud arrived in New York City, part in what would today be thought of as a psychiatric all-star tour. On his only trip to the United States, Freud brought with him disciples Carl Jung and Sandor Ferenczi. They met up with Freud's english translator, Abraham Brill, to travel to Clark University in Boston to give a series of lectures. By the end of Freud's american journey, he was embittered and spoke of americans as "savages." He refused to say why and to this day, no one really knows what happened to so thoroughly alienate sigmund Freud from America.

Yale University Consitutional Law professor Jed Rubenfeld uses that mysterious trip, augmented by his own fascination with turn of the century New York City and Shakespeare, as a jumping off point for his first novel, Interpretation of Murder. In it, a young fictitious psychoanalyst, doctor Stratham Younger, is charged with escorting Freud during his time in America. Though Freud's psychoanalytic theories are at best ridiculed and at worst greeted with overt hostility, doctor younger is a devotee of Freud's and uses the opportunity to worship freud as much as to learn from him.

Their scholarly sojourn is interrupted, however, by the shocking sadomasochistic murder of a young heiress followed by the attempted murder of another beautiful young woman of high social standing. The second woman, the lovely and intelligent Nora Acton is stricken by amnesia following her victimization. The good doctors are asked to examine Miss Acton in order to help her remember the identity of her attacker. When she finally does, she names an old friend of her father's and a pillar of New York society. Doctor Younger is called upon to figure out why miss acton would make such a terrible mistake. But did she make a mistake? And if she did, who committed the crimes?

Author Rubenfeld has created a challenging set of circumstances for his thriller. He obviously researched the topics thoroughly and enjoyed weaving issues such as the Oedipus complex and the true meaning of Hamlet's soliloquy into his book. And though there are times when Rubenfeld's conceits are wonderfully effective; there are times when they just feel too self-conscious. Those big ideas pull us out of the narrative instead of deeper into the thriller.

Still, overall, TheIinterpretation of Murder is a fine first novel and an enjoyable thriller. Readers who enjoyed The Alienist will likewise enjoy this intelligent book. And I think we'll be enjoying Rubenfeld's writing in books to come.

You've been listening to the Open Book on KCPW. I'm Catherine Weller.

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