SOURCE: Pritchard, William H. “Fiction Chronicle.” Hudson Review 54, no. 2 (summer 2001): 313-19.

In the following review, Pritchard examines a selection of recent novels, including Disobedience, arguing that Hamilton's realistic portrayal of a mother-son relationship is “a solid and credible achievement.”

William Trevor's most recent collection of short fiction has met with universal praise, an unusual consensus even for such a distinguished writer.¹ As one of the reviewers who praised it, I can't help wondering whether anything in addition to the clear merit of his work is responsible for the unanimity. It may have something to do with a related fact—that even more than with most writers, detailing the plot and describing the characters of a Trevor story is of no use in suggesting that story's feel, its texture. Mr. Trevor's sensibility is extraordinarily resistant to “ideas,” while the tone and manner of the pieces, divergent in their locations...