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Hester Prynne never had it so good! The year is 1899, and Olympia Biddeford, the headstrong daughter of a Boston Brahmin family, has decided to test the limits of her cloistered world. Spending the summer at her father's New Hampshire estate, the teenage heroine of Fortune's Rocks is entranced with the visiting salon of artists, writers, and lawyers. She's especially captivated, however, by John Haskell, a charismatic physician who ministers to the blue-collar community in the nearby mill towns. This middle-aged Good Samaritan hires Olympia to assist him as a nurse, and their collaboration soon evolves into a fiery love affair. Alas, it's only a matter of weeks before this passionate exercise in managed care is exposed--with disastrous consequences for the young, impregnated heroine. Even her adoring father now considers her "an overplump sixteen-year-old girl whose judgment can no longer be trusted," and insists that she break off her relationship:
"There is nothing more to be said on this subject," he says. She bites her lip to keep from crying out further. She holds the arms of her chair so tightly she later will have cramps in her fingers. She will refuse to obey him, she thinks. She will accept his implied challenge and set off on her own. But in the next moment, she asks herself: How will she be able to do that? Without her father's support, she cannot hope to survive. And if she herself does not survive, then a child cannot live."In the end, Anita Shreve's seventh novel is a polished, supremely entertaining variation on Wuthering Heights, with Olympia and Haskell sitting in for Catherine and Heathcliff. The author did some meticulous research for her New England background, which gives this study of one particular wayward woman some extra historical heft. Some readers may find the plot twists a bit pat. And despite Olympia's efforts to be an independent woman, she overcomes her trials largely as a result of her family's wealth and station, which takes the edge off Shreve's feminist message. Still, Fortune's Rocks is a romance in the classic sense of the word, and should be enjoyed as such, unless the reader is absolutely allergic to happy endings. --Ted Leventhal --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
The time is the turn of the last century, the setting a rocky New Hampshire coastline resort area nicknamed "Fortune's Rocks." Olympia Biddeford, age 15, is walking the beach, feeling the first stirrings of her womanhood. The strong-willed daughter of an upstanding Boston couple, she soon "learns of desire" as she begins a passionate affair with a married writer, John Haskell, three times her age. From the moment they meet (he is a visiting friend of her father's), they experience a sexual sparkAOlympia feels "liquid" in his presence. Soon, they fall into sinful trysting. Shreve (The Pilot's Wife) serves up these opening events with breathless immediacy. Once the plot gets a chance to developAOlympia gets pregnant, gives up child, fights to get child backAit settles down considerably, turning into a modernized The Scarlet Letter, a tale of a woman attaining feminist independence by living outside her period's societal mores. Reading, Brown (of TV's The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd) clearly has the most fun at the beginning, where the story's real heat and flushed excitement pours out. Listeners, too, may grow colder as the plot loses its torrid, forbidden edge. Based on the 1999 Little, Brown hardcover. (Dec.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
awesome book,
By moonchild (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fortune's Rocks (Hardcover)
I introduced this book to a book club several years ago and it was a big hit. I couldn't put it down, and since this book, i have gone on to read all of Anita Shreve's work. I would highly recommend this!!!
5.0 out of 5 stars
evocative & inspiring.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Fortune's Rocks: A Novel (Paperback)
this is my favourite anita shreve book, (along with strange fits of passion).the book has an air of henry james to it, & the story is probably quite a typical victoria theme, though one kept tightly uder wraps during this period! the young, impressionable girl, bored & restless, has her head turned by the attractive, intelligent, successful "married" older man, & following from the passion that ensues, this stories tells of the tragic results of this liaison, anita really studies her subject, is a thoughtful & gentle writer, who writes with a air of quietness that draws you in. i loved this book as it evoked a key period in history of dramatic change & the subsequence of this is apparent now, & particulary an interesting time for women, who were beginning to get their voice more, & here we see a spirited, strong minded version of this in our heroine.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very greatful,
By Kelly (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fortune's Rocks: A Novel (Paperback)
I started my Anita Shreve reading with "The Pilot's Wife." The next novel I came across by her was this one. I have a busy life, sometimes larger novels can take me quite some time to accomplish. This book, I basically sat down and read in just a couple sittings. The main character in this novel showed what it was like to love and be loved, and how love can overcome all time. Normally that would turn me off about a novel, but there was an actual story surrounding it. A life that you could get yourself drawn into and appreciate the words on the page for. It was a very moving novel and I can not wait to pass it on to my friends to enjoy. I can't wait to read another book by what is becoming one of my favourite authors.
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