Trespass — Valerie Martin

Two women, Chloe Dale, an artist comfortably ensconced in bucolic suburbia, and Salome Drago, a wily, seductive refugee from a country that no longer exists, confront each other in a Manhattan restaurant, and the battle lines are drawn. Toby Dale, son of the artist and ardent suitor of the refugee, is in no position to choose sides. Outside, the drumbeats for the impending invasion of Iraq drown out all argument, and those who object will soon be reduced to standing in the street.

The story of two families--suspicious, territorial, naïve in their confidence that they are free of the past--Trespass unfolds with commanding force. It is a bracing, tender novel for the 21st century.