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| View Larger Image | Body Surfing: A Novel
by Anita Shreve
| | List Price: | $14.99 | | Price: | $10.19 | | You Save: | $4.80 (32%) |  | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours | | | | | Sales Rank: | 15856 | | Studio: | Back Bay Books | | | Binding: | Paperback | | Number Of Pages: | 320 | | Publication Date: | January 15, 2008 | | Publisher: | Back Bay Books |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
"Always readable-sometimes compulsively so-Shreve's novels are typically emotionally resonant, nicely paced, and populated by memorable characters." -People
At the age of 29, Sydney has already been once divorced and once widowed. Trying to regain her footing, she has signed on 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 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.
With the subtle wit, lyrical language, and brilliant insight into the human heart that has led her to be called "an author at one with her métier" (Miami Herald), Shreve weaves a novel about marriage, family, and the supreme courage it takes to love.
"Shreve excels at nuance and detail. She skillfully illuminates the tiniest of moments, offering readers a peek at the complex undertones coursing through the characters throughout the story." -Rocky Mountain News
"There is something satisfyingly clean, well functioning, pale, and delicious about an Anita Shreve novel. . . . Shreve's characters, grappling with desire, juggling their shame against their regret, are entirely welcome." -Boston Globe
"Shreve's writing is textured, reflective, and generally flows with ease, to the point where the reader may be surprised at how quickly the pages turn."-Newsday |
Amazon.com
The beach house in New Hampshire which figured in Anita Shreve's The Pilot's Wife, Fortune's Rocks, and Sea Glass is once again featured in Body Surfing. This time, it is the summer home of the Edwards family, Anna and Mark and daughter Julie. Mrs. Edwards has great hopes for Julie, who is "slow," so she hires Sydney to tutor her, in preparation for her senior year. There are two older brothers, Jeff and Ben, whose arrival changes the household dynamic considerably. Once again, Shreve revisits the minefield of love and betrayal that she has explored so well in her best novels. Sydney is 29, twice married, once divorced, and once a widow. She is floundering, not sure she wants to go back to school, accepting whatever job comes along and then moving on. She answers the ad for a tutor and finds herself in the Edwards household, where she discovers that Julie has undiscovered artistic talent. Mrs. Edwards dislikes her instantly, is dismissive, and treats her like a servant. Mr. Edwards befriends her, shows her his roses and talks to her about the history of the house, giving the reader a rundown of the role the house has played in prior novels. Sydney, Jeff, and Ben go body surfing late one night and Sydney is sure that Ben has tried to grope her underwater. She takes immediate umbrage at this and treats him coldly thereafter. Shreve's other work has a steady narrative flow, but this novel is episodic and disjointed. There is the the arrival of Jeff's girlfriend, her departure, an evening when Julie comes home drunk and won't talk about it, and a liaison between Sydney and Jeff which leads to the complications that eventually define the novel. There is a twist at the end, involving the brothers, that is divisive, destructive and rather hard to believe. While this is not Shreve's best effort, because the characters are not well-defined, it is worth reading her take on what happens to people when they compete for love. --Valerie Ryan |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.0 based on 85 reviews)
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A Sequel of Sorts 
Can a house be a main character? It is in this book, which features the same New Hampshire beach house that appeared in The Pilot's Wife, Fortune's Rock and Sea Glass. The house remains steadfast, but the lives of the people who occupy it are as stormy and unpredictable as the Atlantic Ocean it faces.
This time we meet the Edwards family, consisting of genial Mark, impossibly snobbish and nasty Anna, and their "slow" daughter Julia, who, nevertheless, is expected by Anna to pass her SATs and go to college like her two older brothers, now successful adults. To that end, the family hires Sydney, a young widow, as a live-in tutor for the summer.
The personalities in the house mesh in strange and unpredictable ways, and when the two brothers come to stay, a love triangle begins that predictably ends in disaster. Along the way, Julie breaks out of her family-imposed torpor in surprising ways, and to continue the ocean analogy, everything is as predictable as the tides, and as unpredictable as a sudden squall.
I loved this book. I loved the spare use of language, the careful unfolding of the personalities, the strange twists and turns of each life, and the predictable--yet not--ending.
If you like Anita Shreve, you will ike this book, one of her best. But for those who do not like her, it is quintessential Shreve, and judging by the wide range of reviews, not to everyone's taste.
July 04, 2008 | |
Body Surfing 
A friend who gave Body Surfing a rave review recommended it as a must read. I have only read 30 pages and I am really not interested in finding out how it ends. It is half screenplay, giving directions, "She leans against the railing". The other half is written like a telegram just missing the "stop" at the end of a sentence. Short broken sentences that reveal little to nothing about the intensity of the characters. The blurb on the back of the book makes you feel as though you can relate to Sydney, and yet when you open the book the cover doesn't match the inside. This is a tough book to get into. I feel as though I don't know the characters nor do I care. This book so far is the least impressive book I have read in a long time and I can't believe I actually bought it. Thank goodness for library cards!
June 17, 2008 | |
Complicated Lives. 
The setting is a beach house in New Hampshire, the summer home of the Edwards family. Sydney is hired to be the tutor for their "slow" daughter, Julie, while Mr. Edwards is an architect who enjoys his rose garden and collects historical documents on the house they're living in. It is the same house that was featured in several other Shreve novels, like "The Pilot's Wife". Mrs. Edwards strikes me as a snob and a bit of a racist with her remarks about Sydney being half-Jewish. The brothers, Ben and Jeff, who arrive a little later in the novel are the catalysts to a big change in Sydney's life.
Sydney is 29, divorced once and widowed once. She is floating through life, not sure what to do or where to go. She accepts the job as a tutor for the summer and builds a good relationship with Julie even discovering her artistic flair. In the midst of this summer she falls for one of the brother's and a relationship begins, rather suddenly.
The whole story is based on this relationship and its outcome.
I enjoyed the clean writing and the lack of overdescriptive paragraphs that tend to drive me crazy in some novels. I like to be able to picture the characters in my own way. Having said that, I would have liked a little more background or information on some of the characters, most notably the two brothers. I think we could have used a bit more fleshing out of their characters. I still do not completely understand why Jeff acted the way he did. There are so many internal struggles going on with this family that each character is a story unto themselves. Also, I had hoped for more of an ending but I guess I will have to make some assumptions as to Sydney's future life.
Overall, an easy read that kept me hooked.
May 25, 2008 | |
My least favorite Shreve novel 
I have to say this is my least favorite and I have read them all. I have never classified Shreve's books as mere romance novels, as some of my friends do, but this one comes close to being just that. It was too predictable and lacking the usual richness in historical context and intrigue.
May 14, 2008 | |
"The family never stays after Labor Day. Never."
There are very few books in my life that I picked up and read all in one day. Body Surfing is one of those books. Sydney, age 29, has not had a terribly easy life thus far. She has had two marriages, one of which ended when she divorced her husband and the other ended when she was widowed. We meet her as she tries to start anew working as a tutor to the teen daughter of a well-off couple spending their summer in a beach home in New Hampshire.
The story wends its way through three years of relationship changes and emotional stories before its conclusion leaving Sydney in a better place... or at least a hopeful one.
One of the passages bit me as I read it for it's truth in description... Sydney is riding in a boat with the two sons of the family whom she has just met the day before... "There is a low-throated rumble of an engine and an instant breeze. She puts on the sweatshirt, which covers her tank suit but leaves her legs bare. She feels more naked than she did with just the suit on." (emphasis mine - exactly how it feels to be dressed this way...)
April 25, 2008 | |
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