Sarah Pine’s novel “The Mastermind”: Better as a foursome

It is the story of a mauling, this debut novel by Sarah Pines with the almost sober title “The Mastermind”. There are – now things are getting a bit complicated – Theodor Hasselt, a pedantic, choleric wire rope manufacturer from the Sauerland, and his Alba, a girlish, whimsical cousin from South Africa. Theo loves Alba, or, to put it patriarchally: he wants to own her. Alba wants that too, somehow. If it weren’t for Albert von Essenbeck, steel manufacturer, Theo’s competitor in business and having sex with Alba. And the liberal and clever Marthe, Albert’s fiancée and Theo’s lover. One like that foursome can actually be nothing but complicated, and you can’t really decide whether you find these four people in their upper-class villas incredibly attractive or incredibly repulsive. Sarah Pines leaves us hanging in this emotional in-between.