Roopa Unnikrishnan

Roopa Unnikrishnan Writes

New York Post
Dec. 17, 2000

Spontaneous
By Diana Wagman
St. Martins Press
260 pp.

Reviewed by Roopa Unnikrishnan

"Spontaneous" has all the fluidity and motion of a movie--not surprising given that author Diane Wagman is also an award-winning script-writer. The book is based on the premise that "some people generate more heat" and that they can summon the power of that fire to combust. As in her previous book "Skin", the power of beauty is explored with a sometimes disconcerting honesty.

The explosive event featured in both the beginning and end of the book sets the pace. As you may guess, it is the spontaneous combustion of two major characters. Auntie Ned combusts and leaves her singed house to Amy and Gwendolyn--daughters of her best friend and one-time lover. Amy is the elder sister, and the wielder of sexual power over Gwendolyn and many others. The intense internal worlds of the protagonists take us through the book. The characters are well drawn, and the reader will feel some empathy for their motivations, even some of their ignoble ones.

The stories that thread through this clever book are interesting in themselves. The carpenter who holds a deep, unhappy secret, Gwendolyn with her ties to her lecehrous business partner, the professor of pyrophenomenon and midget Dr. Minor -- all have interesting tales woven around them. Of course, Amy' s character is the one that is best defined. Wagman evokes Amy's extreme love for her sibling by her equally enormous appetite for red meat -- and both desires seem to fan the very real, deep fire within her that constantly threatens to explode. Amy chooses a troubled young carpenter to be the tool that will keep her sister tied to her forever. In doing so, however, she unleashes events that inevitably lead to the fiery conclusion.

The ending may feel inevitable, but Wagman has put a twist into this tale and imbued the last chapters with a pace that leaves you breathless and asking for more.