Trust by Mike Bullen

Title: Trust
Author: Mike Bullen

Publication Date: 10 Nov 2015

Mike Bullen could not have chosen a more pertinent title for his debut novel. Trust is the fundamental theme and substance of this story and indeed of life too. Our relationships, which make our lives whole, ultimately revolve around the fine balance of trust. Bullen explores the complexity of what it means to trust a person and questions whether trust can be rebuilt once broken. Bullen successfully explores these fundamental questions of life through the complex construction of his sometimes annoying but very identifiable characters.

Colleagues and friends Greg and Dan head off to a conference for work, there they are faced with a situation where they have the opportunity to cheat on their wife and partner. The decisions they make here will ultimately dictate their future. I do not want to give anything away but the way in which this story unfolds is very well thought out and really challenges the reader to ask themselves what they would do in this situation. For me, I found myself identifying with the wife and partner who are back home and deal with the consequences of their husband and partner’s actions. I’ve always been of the view that if my partner cheated on me that would pretty much break us apart. I would probably pack up my life and leave. However, now we have a son, I feel like that changes everything, you have another life in your hands and suddenly not everything is black and white. This novel proves that once trust has been broken, if you love someone enough, there may be a possibility, just maybe that the trust could be rebuilt… Relationships ebb and flow, you have to nurture and tend to the love you have for each other. It’s not sunshine and rainbows all the time.

“They were like gardeners who don’t tend to their plants, who take it for granted that they’ll bloom this year because they always have in the past. But just as shrubs need light, water and cultivated soil, so love needs romance, tenderness and care. Without nurture, it too can wither and die.”

What are your views on this? Do you feel that cheating is black and white or do you think there is a grey area? I feel every situation is different, it depends if the person has fallen in love with a new partner or whether it is a onetime thing. There are a million different factors. It depends how strong the love is between two people to begin with. I am in NO WAY condoning cheating but isn’t this just proof that Mike Bullen has achieved what every author strives to achieve with their writing? He has kept the reader thinking, contemplating, and pondering, long after putting his novel down.

Trust is the perfect selection for your next book club book it certainly will get some heated debates going, so be prepared!