Sea Glass by Anita Shreve is the story of Honora Beecher and her husband, Sexton, who, in 1929, have just got married and moved themselves into a derelict cottage on the coast of New Hampshire. Honora tries to make the house a bit more liveable and collects sea glass along the shoreline - a hobby that fills her heart with joy. Sexton is a typewriter salesman who has grand ideas about his future, and risks all their money on a massive loan to buy the house they are currently renting. Unfortunately, the stock market crashes and they become penniless - and nobody wants to buy a typewriter! Sexton finds work at a local mill, and is away all week, leaving Honora spending more time by herself or with a new friend who lives along the coast. Their marriage becomes shaky as Sexton becomes more emotionally distant and they both become embroiled in a labour conflict that erupts into violence. This is a great holiday read, with characters that you care about, a bit of romance, politics and civil unrest. It's all there, but written with such a lightness of touch that it's hard to put down and you suddenly find yourself on the last page. Anita Shreve was a great writer of the ups and downs of relationships, and the emotional depth shown within the characters is clear to see, and indeed feel, in most cases. My one gripe was that I found it hard to like Sexton and wondered why Honora was with him in the first place. But that could be just me! An enjoyable book nonetheless.
My STAR rating: FOUR.
Length: 356 print pages.
Price: free, borrowed from my Mum.
Formats available: print, audio CD, ebook.
No comments:
Post a Comment