Sanctuary: Not Always the Safest Place

Sarah Robertson is the editor of the Canadian Book Review Annual.

Sanctuary is a superior psychological thriller that blends nail-biting
suspense and cogent reflections on topics ranging from genetic
modification to the precariousness of human identity.

As the story opens, Leo Holland, a divorced cartoonist living in
Manhattan, is looking forward to a trip she has planned with Isabel
Morgan, an investigative journalist. Isabel’s failure to show up at
the appointed time sends Leo to England in search of her missing friend.
Assisted by Christopher Norfolk, a colleague of Isabel’s, she delves
in the morally dubious world of agribusiness for clues to the
disappearance. She is shocked, and dismayed, to learn that much of
Isabel’s life was hidden to her when her investigation reveals
unspecified personal demons that compelled her friend to go into
treatment with Daniel Lukas, a recently widowed psychotherapist.

As the missing-persons case unfolds, Leo’s questions multiply. Is
Isabel’s disappearance linked to a sensitive story she was working on,
or is it the consequence of a personal crisis Leo knew nothing about? Is
there a connection between Leo’s malaise and her preoccupation with
Isabel’s life? Can Daniel and Norfolk be trusted?

Before these questions are answered, the reader encounters a few
requisite red herrings. If the denouement is somewhat over-the-top, the
journey to it—deftly paced, exciting, enriched by a sympathetic
heroine and a finely drawn cast of supporting characters (cardboard
villain excepted)—is immensely satisfying. Appignanesi, who coauthored
the nonfictional Freud’s Women, even throws in case notes on
Isabel’s treatment and a biting portrait of London’s psychoanalytic
community for good measure.