Trial by Water: A Novel

Just when he thinks everything is going his way in his new home of Trent, Massachusetts, transplanted New Yorker Florian Rubio finds his world turned upside down when his son is implicated in the deaths of two teens

YA-- From a mountain lake drowning of two teenagers trapped in a car, through the unfolding of complex events leading up to the tragedy, to the courtroom battle, this realistic story compells readers to sort through the facts, motivations, responsibilities, and political realities of involuntary manslaughter charges. In a style similar to Scott Turow's, Cuomo takes readers through the components of a case that seems unshakeably controlled by the damning, however suspicious, testimony of a teenager of questionable character. YAs will relate to the rivalry between two high schools from opposite "sides of the tracks," to the prom-night shenanigans that create the grim backdrop for the accident. Trial by Water is a great selection for average or above-average readers.
- Jessica Lahr, Edison High School, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This first novel in two decades by the author of Among Thieves is well worth the wait. Set in a Massachusetts community that resembles those in the Berkshire region around Pittsfield and Lenox, the book focuses on Florian Rubio, a land speculator who has transcended his Bronx origins and is riding a wave of success--until his son Brian is put on trial for manslaughter. Brian is accused of causing the deaths of two other teenagers whose car he forced off a boat ramp into a lake, a gruesome accident that concluded a wild night of class warfare between kids from rival high schools. The suspenseful narrative also offers an insightful exploration of the tensions among three generations of the Rubios, Florian's parents having lived with him since his divorce. At the same time that his son's problems are brewing, Florian is drifting into a relationship with a schoolteacher neighbor, whose marriage is disintegrating. Cuomo handles this potentially melodramatic material with taste and reserve. Keenly attuned to social conventions, he casts an observant eye on the rituals of small-town life. He has a canny understanding of the semiotics of class, illuminating the tensions between the neighboring high schools and the towns they represent--one working-class, the other affluent. Finally, he sensitively portrays the interactions between fathers and sons, the fumbling ways that American men communicate their love for one another.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Set in western Massachusetts, Cuomo's first novel since The Hero's Great Great Great Great Great Grandson ( LJ 6/1/71) follows the trial of the teenager Brian Rubio, accused of manslaughter in the drowning deaths of two other teens. The real protagonist of the novel is Brian's father, Florian, who presides over a cast of characters representing the widely divergent class elements in the region. Class conflict is at the center of the trial, for the two dead teens were from the working-class town of Medway, while the Rubios live in upscale Trent. In fact, Florian had fought his way to real estate wealth from his origins as a poor Italian boy from the Bronx. Cuomo does a masterful job of building the plot steadily and relentlessly while allowing for a thorough look at the world in which the trial takes place. A solid novel; recommended for larger fiction collections.
- David Dodd, Benicia P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.