Rating: 
Summary: Well worth the listen
Review: I have to admit that I was not familiar with Anita Shreve when I picked up a FORTUNE'S ROCK on audio cassette at a used book store. I now note that she wrote PILOT'S WIFE which was an Oprah book a ocuple of years ago. I found the story intriguing and the reader, Blair Brown was excellent. I'm sure that there are those who would say that this is a romance for women, but the story certainly held my interest. It's a good listen and will certainly not be my last Anita Shreve book.
Rating:
Summary: A fun read..
Review: This book was basically a fun read. It kept me up late, but not too late and I really like the authors style.
Rating: 
Summary: EVOCATIVE AND PROVOCATIVE...
Review: This is a well-crafted and lyrically written narrative, evocative of an era gone by. It tells the story of Olympia Biddeford, the unusually erudite and well-educated fifteen year old daughter of a Boston Brahmin. One hot and steamy summer in turn of the century New Hampshire, she falls passionately and utterly in love with her father's friend, forty one year old John Haskell, a physician and man of letters, who has a wife and four children. She, captivated by his intelligence and his crusade on behalf of exploited mill workers, and he, drawn to her youth, intelligence and beauty, leave all thought of propriety behind. Breaking every moral and social taboo of the time, they enter into a forbidden, illicit love affair, which is ultimately doomed, with cataclysmic ramifications for all whom the affair touches.
The book explores how this young woman copes with the loss of her life in a larger social milieu, once the affair enters into the public domain through the machinations of another. She and the doctor, as well as their respective families, are tainted with scandal and presented with the fruit of that illicit love. The book explores how Olympia must reconstruct the tatters of her life into one in which she is finally able to expiate her youthful indiscretion within the context of the mores of the time. In doing so, she goes on a voyage of self-discovery. Yet, through it all, she never once renounces her devotion to the man who introduced her to the throes of a passion so deep and profound that she gave herself over to it, body and soul. How these star-crossed lovers finally come to terms with their grand passion is a story that the author seamlessly weaves into a book that will keep the reader riveted to its pages. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: Adoring Anita Shreve......
Review: and this is one of her best! Olympia is a young woman on the cusp of adulthood and she embarks on a dangerous love affair with the much older, married friend of her father's in Fortune's Rocks one summer. As is common with Shreve's writing, there is a lot of description, almost too much. But once you sort through all the top layers, you begin to realize there is a very substantial plot underneath. This would make a great book for a discussion group. Very well developed characters and a great eye for detail in describing the scenery and surroundings.
Rating:
Summary: From a native...
Review: This was a fantastic read!I grew up in Biddeford, Maine, and my favorite beach there is called Fortune's Rocks. I've lived all over the country and have yet to discover a beach more beautiful, which is why the the title of the book and it's main character, Ms. Biddeford, caught my eye. I bought Fortune's Rocks because the title made me feel nostalgic and was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. It is brilliantly written. Ms. Shreve obviously enjoyed her time in my home town and recognized the beaty of Fortune's Rocks as it inspired her to write such an incredible novel.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite Shreve book
Review: I almost skipped reading this book when I read the synopsis on the dust jacket. The idea of a 15 year old girl having an affair with someone her father's age did not appeal to me. But Shreve masterfully tells this story and once you are wrapped up in it, any and all "ick factor" disappears. What you find yourself reading is a sensual and painful tale of forbidden love and its consequences. Shreve's brilliant description of life in 1899 is wonderful. I wish all historical fiction would pay as close attention to detail and make it feel so real as Shreve was able to do. This is a wonderful read, from first page to last!
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