Rating: 
Summary: Too much time and money on their hands
Review: A pathetic story of a tribe of useless rich people with a ton of time on their hands making each other miserable. It appears that no one works and everything is catered for the parties. The men get drunk and sail while the women fret over damask. If you can't cope you just check into a private hospital for a long stay. They need to read a little Upton Sinclair. *sigh* It is a good thing it all came to an end, bring on the bulldozers!
Rating: 
Summary: What an absolute treat!
Review: Anne Rivers Siddons, please applaude yourself! This is the kind of book I hope I will find each and every time I go into a bookstore. This is a keeper (you know, the kind of book you don't lend out for fear you'll never see it again). I savoured Colony and am now in search for Anne's other books.
Rating:
Summary: Colony
Review: Because I read so many novels, they typically begin to "blend" together over time. But when I picked up this book at the recommendation of a friend, I knew I had something unforgettable. Anne Rivers Siddons has a writing style and turn of phrase that is hard to find. Her books ring true to the heart with rich characters in settings you will long remember. I highly recommend this book to women who understand what it takes to hold families together and to preserve tradition in an everchanging society.
Rating:
Summary: I Thoroughly Enjoyed Colony!
Review: Colony is a wonderful read! I found it very difficult to put down at night! Anne Rivers Siddons has a talent for eventful writing, and creating the scenery behind the events so you can picture it in your mind! I enjoyed the story lines of the fragile children, and Maude Chamblisses character very much. The book keeps you guessing what is going to happen next in the children's lives as well as everyone else. I HIGHLY recommend it for an entertaining read!
Rating:
Summary: I can't get enough
Review: Colony is the first and only book that I have read by Anne Rivers Siddons. I began reading it in the summer of 1994, finished it, and re-read it every summer after that except this one, the summer of 1997. I originally received the book on loan from a friend, then myself loaned the book out and have not seen it since, so I am about to purchase it for the first time. I would reccommend it to anyone-it is captivating, engaging, and utterly filled with pure pleasure. I can't wait to feel her words wash over me again.
Rating: 
Summary: Colony is an engaging story of women's relationships.
Review: Colony is the type of book you can't wait to lend to a friend as soon as you've read the last page. That friend, you'll soon discover, cannot return it because it's been passed on to a family member, a colleague, or another friend (you see the cycle). While on vacation last July, I actually sought out the seaside village in Maine where the story takes place. I wanted to find the haven I had visited through Siddons' vibrant description. Her pine trees and salty air couldn't become more vivid by scratching and sniffing the pages.Siddons' ninth effort details the life of Maude Gascoigne, a Southerner whose story begins upon her wedding engagement to a privileged Bostonian. Maude recounts her passage from a lazy existence in the South Carolina swamplands to a life of summers at Retreat, an old-money colony in Cape Rosier, Maine. The unsophisticated Maude arrives at the blueblood colony as the young fiancee of the socially prominent Peter Chambliss. Peter soon marries the olive-skinned, French- blooded Maude, defying his mother, the venerable Hannah Chambliss. Maude joins the fair-skinned young brides who spend their vacations serving their mothers-in-law, the pampered matriarchs of the aristocratic enclave. She finds a comrade in Amy Potter, a sister in servitude who educates her in the escapist art of the feigned migraine. As Peter sails, Maude serves -- to fulfill a pre-ordained tradition and sit among the new order of matriarchs, rocking away their payback years on the sun porches. Through many seasons, Maude faces antagonizing opposition by jealous contemporaries, including a vengeful beauty who failed to capture Peter's heart. In the face of much personal heartache, she eventually earns the hard-won compassion of the friends who see her through children and grandchildren, marital strife, death, separation and renewal. Maude finds an irreplaceable ally in Micah Willis, a salty townie whose similarly humble roots assisted their initial bonding. Micah's rough-hewn strength becomes part of her own backbone, and their deepening affection eventually causes her to explore long-submerged feelings. Colony is as much about relationships as it is about Maude. As in her earlier Outer Banks, Siddons uses the main character's bird'seye view to breathe life into the supporting characters, infusing dramatic plot turns to enrich Maude's story. Maude and Hannah finally develop a mutual respect, finding common ground through discovering the sturdy stuff of which each is made. Maude did not spend her summers vying for a seat on the coveted sun porch, but aimed for a peace closer to her soul: the preservation of Retreat's bountiful nature, an enriched family life, and the hard-won respect of the Colony. Upon Hannah's death, Amy acknowledges, "We don't get up for old women any more. We're the ones with porch privileges." "Oh, Amy," a weary Maude responds, "I never wanted to get there." After a challenging, off-season life in New Hampshire, a widowed Maude eventually finds peace in Retreat, her last oasis of true respite and enduring family tradition. With the help and hindrance of her granddaughter, Darcy, she successfully tugs Retreat from the grasp of an ill-intentioned developer. Siddons leaves us to believe that Darcy will carry on the Retreat tradition, accepting the torch that has been passed to her generation. I actually found Cape Rosier last summer, after driving as far as the old, Down East roads could take me. I was disappointed that there were no signs for Retreat. The weather-worn cottages dotted the quiet shore, sitting carefully out of site beyond long, winding driveways. I thought how nice it would be to relax on a sun porch, and reread Colony. Then I remembered, I lent it to my sister.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best novels I have ever read!
Review: Colony was the first book by Anne Rivers Siddons that I read, and after reading it I hurried to find everything else she had
written. But Colony remains my favorite. Siddons has an incredible
gift for creating realistic, believable characters that you can
identify with. Even though I am nothing like Maude, I was living
her life as I read this story, feeling her pain, her exhuberance,
and learning her lessons of life. Siddons can describe emotion
like no author I have ever read. She takes complicated feelings
about loved ones and oneself and lays them out there for the reader
to grasp, like a gift of insight. The image of Maude in the
ice-cold water rescuing the fawn has remained with me for years.
Rating:
Summary: Colony
Review: Colony was the first novel I ever read by this author. I actually bought this book very cheaply second-hand and left it on my bookshelf for months before finally reading it. Once I started, I just couldn't stop. I fell in love with each character and found them all to be intriguing. I was able to imagine the beach and sunsets and houses with such ease that it was a pleasure to read and I wished the story wouldn't end. I am looking forward to reading all of Anne Rivers Siddons other novels.
Rating:
Summary: An oldie but wonderful goodie!
Review: Colony was written by Anne Rivers Siddons sometime ago, but I only just read it recently. And now that I have, I imagine that this title will always remain one of my very favorite books from this author. The reader of this book is treated to 70 odd years in the life of the main character Maude Chambliss as she spends the season at a small summer colony in Maine. You come to know her life and its joys as well as its tragedies. You also learn about her life, not only with her husband and domineering mother-in-law, but with her children and other islanders. And when you close the last page of this book you will sigh, wish it could have lasted longer and think about the characters and plots as I did.
Rating:
Summary: Another great Anne Rivers Siddons novel!
Review: Couldn't put this one down! While I was sitting at home sick, this novel kept my mind occupied -- I surely felt that I was summering in Retreat! It really made me appreciate all our older relatives (how quirky they may be) and how we can learn many lessons from them. The ending was surprising but it definitely pulled everything together. I think 'Colony' is now another favorite novel of mine, a close second to 'Outer Banks'. Thanks again, Ms. Siddons! I can't wait to visit all the beautiful places you write about!
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