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Revision as of 10:37, 28 August 2020
, 10:37, 28 August 2020no edit summary
I loved the people. They somehow got under my skin. Sydney is an inspirational heroine - resilient despite all that happens to her and prepared to look to the future. Even relatively minor characters are fully-fleshed: Mr Edwards, kindly and unassuming in contrast to his wife, inclined to bitchiness and being difficult. It's small touches such as the minister we never meet who leaves a motoring magazine on the bathroom floor. I missed all these people when I finished the book and I wanted to know how they got on.
''Body Surfing'' is the fourth novel set in the same New England beach-front house. Each tells the story of different women who have lived in the house over the years. They can all be read as stand-alone books but the feeling that the house has a history adds to the texture of the story. If this type of book appeals to you then you might also enjoy [[After You'd Gone]] by Maggie O'Farrell which also looks at grief or Rupert Thomson's [[Death of a Murderer]]. This book has the same elegant prose as Shreve's writing and looks at why things go wrong. It's a book for people who don't just want answers. You might also enjoy [[Five Bells by Gail Jones]].
My thanks to the lovely people at Little, Brown who sent this book.
