apfopd United Kingdom

Rating

4 stars - a really enjoyable read

Description

At the age of twenty-nine, Sydney has already been once divorced and once widowed. Trying to regain her footing, she has answered an ad to tutor the teenage daughter of a well-to-do couple as they spend a sultry summer in their oceanfront New Hampshire cottage.

But when the Edwardses two grown sons, Ben and Jeff, arrive at the beach house, Sydney finds herself caught up in a destructive web of old tensions and bitter divisions. As the brothers vie for her affections, the fragile existence Sydney has rebuilt is threatened.

Reason for reading

I’ve been a big fan of Anita Shreve since reading Eden Close many years ago and was avidly awaiting this novel’s paperback release.

First line

“Three o’clock, the dead hour. The faint irritation of sand grit between bare foot and floorboards.”

Review

I was happy to see the Beach House that has been a theme of Sheve’s earlier novels make another appearance - it’s interesting to read about the history of a house and the people who lived there lives within it in such different ways.

This particular tale revolves around Sydney, a woman twice married, once divorced and once widowed - who spends the summer at the Summer House tutoring the Edwardses teenage daughter.

The themes of the novel are family dynamics and secrets, love, marriage and deceit - and all are thrown together in a novel made up of broken paragraphs containing disjointed snippets of information, conversations, feelings and beautiful descriptions of Sydney’s thoughts and surroundings.

The novel explores Sydney’s relationship with Mrs Edwards - an awkward one - and the love that develops with Mr Edwards and Julie - as they welcome her into their family. And then of course their are the sons, Ben and Jeff who between them weave a web in which Sydney becomes entangled.

It’s hard to review this novel without giving away the story line - and there are so many twists and turns along the way I’d hate to reveal any secrets. It’s a beautiful book, well written and thought provoking - but one which can be devoured in a couple of sittings. Buy yourself a copy - you won’t be disappointed.

The Beach House

Some fellow readers have asked which Anita Shreve novels I’d recommend and in which order they should be read. Personally I’ve enjoyed all of them, although A Wedding in December is my least favourite. The Beach House that is owned by the Edwards family in Body Surfing also makes an appearance in the following novels:

1. Fortune’s Rocks
2. Sea Glass
3. The Pilot’s Wife
4. Body Surfing

I’d suggest starting with Fortune’s Rocks and reading on from there - and then visiting some of her other novels.

Rating

5 stars - a book so comfortable you’ll want to read it more than once

Description - from Amazon

Compulsively neat, obsessively organised, Lily is a writer who writes about writers. When she is asked to contribute to a book on lost icons, she visits Rita Boothe - photographer, journalist and wit - who took LSD when she was forty and never lived up to her promise. Rita shows Lily some of her photographs, including one of a beautiful, sexy creature drinking Jack Daniels in a white limousine. It is Mattie, Lily’s mother. Lily stares in wonder and with envy - she wishes she could live with such abandon. But Mattie is no longer the woman in the limo, and she and Lily’s father live in a neglected house with their neglected marriage. Lily and her siblings want to mend their parents’ rift, but Marie’s husband has walked out, and Rory avoids coming home altogether. Unless something happens, the family’s going to fade away. But something is about to happen…

Why did you choose to read this book?

The honest answer? I put my TBR books in alphabetical order and this one was next! I picked it up from the shelf and really didn’t want to read it - but that was the rule I set and so I did. Of course you could ask why I have the book on my TBR pile - and I honestly have no idea - the cover isn’t too inspiring and the blurb on the back could be more inviting - so i can only think it must have been on sale and found it’s way into my shopping basket some time ago!

A review of the book

So I’ve admitted I wasn’t too keen on reading this - and it was a little slow to start so I nearly gave in - but I forced myself to stick it out and I’m glad I did - for I really enjoyed this book. Despite the fact that the description focuses on Lily, this book doesn’t really have a main character - or a plot for that matter - rather it is a year in the life of a family, told from the point of view of each and every family member - as they go through normal life events.

It’s heart warming, it’s friendly, it’s comfortable - and it’s oh so true to life that you’ll find yourself smiling as you realise that you do these things too.

If you are part of a family, you’ve ever gone to bed on an argument, or looked at another person and assumed their life was better than yours - then you need to go and buy a copy of this book today.

And now for the book exploration

If you haven’t read this book - and plan to do so - do not read any further for there will be spoilers. If you have read it and would like to share your views then keep reading…

Could you relate to the characters? Did you empathise with them and their plight?

While the changing voices of the characters threw me at first I really enjoyed learning about each of the characters - the way they were thinking and feeling - and could empathise with each of them. Mattie - the mother - is a worrier - when someone says they have a problem she instantly fears the worse and her imagination runs away with her. Lily can be quite paranoid - and thinks that people are saying negative things about her, completely misunderstanding their words and actions.

It was interesting to see the same plot from the different points of view - to see that perceptions and assumptions are not always right - and that this can often stop you doing things that will make you happy for fear of what other people will think.

Is this book driven by the plot or the characters?

The book is definitely driven by the characters - the plot isn’t at all obvious - it’s not like a crime novel where there’s a murder to be solved, or a action adventure where there’s treasure to be found - it’s simply a year in the life of an everyday family, experiencing everyday events.

Share a quote from the book

“She still thought this family like starlings, flying together, whooshing apart, then joining one another again, milling and calling, coming back to where they’d started. She knew, of course, that she’d never truly be one of them; she just hoped that now and then they’d invite her to stand back and observe their flight”

I’m rather sad that this book has come to an end - I feel like I know these characters so well and I’m going to miss them!