- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (April 24 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0316059854
- ISBN-13: 978-0316059855
- Product Dimensions: 16.1 x 2.5 x 24.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 522 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#436,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #73 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction > Divorce
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Deceptive love and stark betrayal form the icy core of this dark 12th novel from Oprah-anointed (The Pilot's Wife), Orange Prize finalist (The Weight of Water) Shreve. Set adrift at 29 by the sudden death of her second husband (her first divorced her), smart, underemployed Sydney (no last name) signs on for a quiet New England oceanfront summer of tutoring 18-year-old Julie, the intellectually slow but artistically talented and strikingly beautiful daughter of the fractious Edwards clan. The family includes Julie's brothers—35-year-old Boston corporate real estate man Ben and 31-year-old M.I.T. poli-sci professor Jeff—and the three children's parents. Sydney is half-Jewish, and Mrs. Edwards is anti-Semitic. Family tensions escalate when Julie disappears, then resurfaces in Montreal as the lesbian lover of 25-year-old Helene (a body surfer who frequented the beach near the Edwardses' home). Jeff and Sydney bond during their search for Julie, nights of passion leading to plans for a joyous wedding, which get very complicated when the couple returns to Edwards central. Shreve's devastating depiction of the family's dissolution—the culmination of sublimated jealousies suddenly exploding into the open—is wrenching. Shreve's omniscience is asserted with such ease that it often feels like she's toying with her characters, but her control is masterful, particularly in the sure-handed and compassionate aftermath. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Shreve's latest features the same seaside New Hampshire house that appears in three of her best novels (The Pilot's Wife, 1998; Fortune's Rocks , 1999; and Sea Glass, 2002). Now it's the place where 29-year-old Sydney comes to heal from her turbulent romantic life. Once divorced and once widowed, she is still reeling and feels unable to continue with graduate school. Instead, she's taken a summer job tutoring the sweet but slow youngest child of a wealthy architect; she is made to feel like a part of the family by the gracious Mr. Edwards and like a paid servant by the more status-conscious Mrs. Edwards. For her part, Sydney is almost afraid to let go of her mourning for her second husband, afraid that she will lose the only connection to him that remains. But then the Edwards' two older sons turn up, and both are intent on drawing Sydney out. They teach her to night surf and ply her with witty conversation and good food and wine. She soon becomes caught between the two brothers, who engage in an intense bout of sibling rivalry, with devastating consequences. In simple yet eloquent style, Shreve portrays the arc of a complicated romantic relationship, from infatuation to betrayal. What's more, she builds in a palpable sense of suspense as well as a deep empathy for human frailty. The ever-skillful Shreve delivers yet another gripping read that will satisfy her many fans and earn her some new ones. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE...,
By
This review is from: Body Surfing: A Novel (Paperback)
Written in spare, staccato prose, this is another novel by the author that touches upon the universal themes of love and betrayal, tantalizing the reader with its abstract presentation. Fleeting, ephemeral, and finely nuanced are the feelings that this novel evokes, almost as if it were a painting rendered by an artist of the impressionist period.When twice married Sydney who, by the age of twenty-nine, finds herself divorced from her first husband and widowed by her second, she is somewhat adrift in life. Taking a summer job as tutor to Julie Edwards, the beautiful, but less than intellectually gifted, teenager of a well to do family, she spends her days in the family's New Hampshire beach front home. There, she meets Jeff and Ben, Julie's older brothers, and Sydney finds herself drawn into the Edwards' family life with all of its underlying tensions. When her heart is captured by one of those brothers, she is unaware of the smoldering rivalries that exist between the two. Consequently, Sydney finds her all too brief happiness shattered in ways that she could never have imagined. This was an enjoyable book, due in large part to the artistry of the author's writing. The weakness, however, lies in the character of Sydney, who is the linchpin for the book. Somehow, she is not a particularly compelling character. So, when she gets the shock of her life, the reader will not be all that sympathetic towards her. Nonetheless, fans of the author will still enjoy this book simply because of the beauty of the spare prose that paints an indelible picture of a family that seemingly has everything but for whom there exists definite and deep cracks in their veneer of happiness.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A book that leaves questions unanswered,
By
This review is from: Body Surfing: A Novel (Hardcover)
It's always a thrill to start reading a book by Anita Shreve. Her writing has a refreshing astringency, like tart lemon sherbet after one scoop too many of rocky road. Every sentence is weighted, and the reader joins the writer in observing and interpreting the action.BODY SURFING is the story of Sydney Sklar, recently widowed, who is tutoring eighteen-year-old Julie Edwards at a beach house in New Hampshire. Julie's older brothers visit and sparks ignite between Sydney and Jeff. Now comes the trouble with spare writing: the reader SEES the various love affairs unfolding, but they're hard to fathom. The chemistry has to be taken on faith. The drawing of a finger along a thigh inspires sensual longing? An underwater touch in the dark is received with intractable revulsion? A distant swimmer in a wetsuit arouses a young girl's first sexual passion? We know it because the author tells us so, but it's all a bit abstract. Lives are changed by these minimal encounters but the reader doesn't feel the heat; the plot seems somehow under-explained. The characters, too, are described by their actions, with interpretation laid on. Somehow you know they're as complex as anyone else but the narrative doesn't quite do that complexity justice. We might wonder why Mrs. Edwards ever thought a summer of tutoring would get her "slow" daughter into a Seven Sisters college; how an architect never came to discover that his daughter is gifted with artistic talent; why neither of them ever noticed that she was a lesbian. And as for Sydney, she seems strong, smart and kind, is already twice-married, yet she can't spot a cad when she sees one and instantly agrees to marry him, apparently because of the thigh-stroking mentioned above. There's nothing awful about this book; the writing itself is a treat, though maybe better suited to stories with a period setting like SEA GLASS or FORTUNE'S ROCKS. However it's not Anita Shreve's best. If you haven't read her, don't start here. But if you love her style, you'll probably find this book a passable read.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing,
By
This review is from: Body Surfing: A Novel (Paperback)
This is the first time I'm disappointed with one of Ms. Shreve's books. My true vote would be 2 ' stars but another half star is added simply because I've read and liked almost everything by this author, so I consider this book just a `slip'. It happens.The story speaks of Sydney, 29, once divorced, once widowed, who accepts a tutoring job in a lovely cottage overlooking the ocean in New Hampshire. Julie, whom she must tutor, is the teenage daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards, who also have two sons, Ben and Jeff, both in their thirties. When the brothers get to the cottage for the summer and meet Sydney for the first time, `something' starts to change for her and, indeed, for the brothers. They all seem to be caught up in a sort of emotional tension, each with their own reason. That is how the novel starts. What I did not like was the almost robot-like construction of each paragraph. I felt It did not help with the general characterization. I usually love Shreve's often-dry style, very to-the-point, her often short sentences combined with her fine ability to convey the strongest message in very few words. This time, I don't know, it just did not `click' with me. I did not particularly like any of the characters either, except, perhaps, Mr. Edwards Sr. Everyone seemed dull, a bit lifeless, despite the vital roaring of the ocean waves in the background. I'll definitely SURF through this one and leave it happily behind. I feel compelled to add however that Ms. Shreve wrote several novels. Her characterizations are usually wonderful, she has a zesty-lemony style which I find remarkable, yet she always conveys emotions perfectly well. This book is passable at best. If you have not yet read anything by her, do not start with this book, just get to any of her other ones. My favourites (so far), `The Pilot's Wife', `Strange Fits of Passion' and `The Last Time They Met'.
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