National Book Award Winner

Trust Exercise

by Susan Choi

Summary

Set at a competitive performing-arts high school in a Sun Belt city in the 1980s, the novel begins as an intense story of teenage romance and the charismatic teacher who oversees the students' lives. Partway through, the narrative pivots, forcing readers to reconsider whose story is being told and on whose terms. Choi uses this structural turn to interrogate memory, consent, and the authority of storytelling itself.

Historical Context & Significance

The book is famous for a mid-novel 'twist' that forces the reader to question the truth of the narrative.