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Avg. Rating: 4
A FIRST RATE DEBUT NOVEL...
This, the author's debut novel, is a well crafted, fictional work that keeps the reader turning its pages. The book is premised upon unfinished business in the past that needs closure, before the future can begin anew. Here, Andrew, a divorced man in his mid thirties, returns home to the upstate New York town in which he grew up, in order to attend his mother's funeral and take care of her estate. Being there, in his childhood home, brings back memories of a night, half a lifetime ago, in which his neighbor's home reverberated with the sound of gunfire, forever changing the life of his childhood friend and neighbor, Eden Close.
Adopted by Jim and Edith Close after being left in a box on their doorstep shortly after her birth, Jim lavished love and a great deal of physical affection on Eden, while Edith always remained strangely aloof from this beautiful child whom she seemed to view as an intrusion in their lives. Eden, friends with Andrew while growing up, was blinded in the terrible tragedy which engulfed her home one night and saw Jim Close killed. Withdrawing from the world at large, she remained a virtual recluse in her adoptive mother's home, while Andrew got on with his life, went to college, and left home.
In returning for his mother's funeral, Andrew sets about trying to unravel the mystery that has enshrouded Eden since that terrible night. The author gives the reader glimpses into the past through a series of flashbacks, which show the bittersweet relationship that Andrew and Eden had shared when younger, a bond which to this day had remained unbroken. It is this unspoken bond that prompts Andrew to try and bring Eden out of her reclusive state. It is an attempt that is to have great ramifications for all. The author weaves a seamless tapestry that fully engages the reader. It is a haunting and beautifully rendered story that will leave the reader eagerly awaiting the author's next book.
Compelling from the very beginning!
I haven't even finished reading this book yet but already feel like giving it a good review. Any book that grabs you right from the first two or three pages is the perfect book to me. The subject matter may be a little heavy though if your parent/s recently died, but so far I'm totally loving this book. I've read several of Anita Shreve's books before and the writing is simply beautiful. You can totally visualize every moment, but it's not too flowery. Not this time. Got to get back to reading...
Not bad
It wasn't the worst book I read in the world, but it's not in my top ten, either. I'm not going to summarize it as so many others have, as that would just be too darn repetitive, so I'll go right away to my opinion about the book. First of all, I liked Andrew's character, though I didn't particularly like the descriptions of him doing work around the house. That was just boring. The flashbacks, on the other hand, were not boring. Shreve did a great job at characterizing the main characters of the novel (I keep thinking of Eden as a boy's name, mainly because Jesse Metcalfe has it for his middle name, so that took a lot of trying to get over, but that's a story for another day), though there were a few stereotypes sprinkled here and there. However, the description of housework and cleaning didn't add to the story, nor did some of the events, like some of the conversations, really add: in other words, the book could have been shorter instead of padded out like it is. And another thing was the climax. She just mentioned the villian about to do something, skipped the big explosion completely, then went right to Andrew and TJ hanging out at (I won't say where for those who don't want it spoiled). Sure, the climax was described, but I wanted to see it and feel it rather than it being told to me.
It wasn't great, it wasn't awful. It was just something to pass the time while I waited for sleep to come.
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