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Body Surfing by Anita Shreve
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Body Surfing (2007)

by Anita Shreve

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Showing 1-5 of 48 (next | show all)
I have recently read two other Anita Shreve books, A Change in Altitude and Light on Snow and I enjoyed them both. However, this book did not live up to my expectations. The narration was excellent and the story line somewhat plausible but I didn’t connect with the main characters in a significant way.

The story revolved around Sydney, a young woman who was going through a period of self-reflection, rebuilding and perhaps even a little escape. She had lost two husbands, one by death and one by divorce and was trying to begin her life again with a new focus. She was hired as a tutor/nanny for the Edwards family and lived with them in their home on the ocean. She was hired to teach their almost adult daughter Julie, who had some learning difficulties.

Julie’s two brothers both entered the scene in a significant way one afternoon on a swim in the ocean. The results of this interaction stretched the credibility of Sydney’s character from the beginning as I could not imagine an intelligent adult woman having the reactions and assumptions that she did surrounding the events of the outing. The interactions and relationships seemed contrived from this point on and I observed that Sydney was portrayed more as an emotional teen than a responsible and experienced adult.

The idea of body surfing was intriguing and I felt Shreve described the activity and feelings and movements of the surfer’s with enough detail to give the reader an understanding of the lure of the waves, even to those of us who have never attempted that particular sport. Both Julie, and Mr. Edwards, a seemingly wonderful father and man, were two characters that were interesting and brought a degree of interest to the story that was more in-depth and capturing than the brothers or the mother. I would like to read a future novel from Shreve about Julie and her life beginning from the place where this story ends. She was a well conceived character and I felt her story was just beginning. ( )
  WeeziesBooks | Oct 31, 2012 |
A wonderful book. An entire family is seen through the eyes of Sydney, the outside-come-inside, as she struggles to find her own place after a series of personal catastrophes. But it's not maudlin or melodramatic. You can imagine this happening, even as you think how unlikely it is; I guess that's the gift of the author. Recommended. ( )
  TerriBooks | Aug 1, 2012 |
Sydney is once divorced, once widowed and decides to tutor the teenage daughter of the Edwards family. She arrives at their cottage and immediately the two older sons try to get to know her. There are tensions in the Edwards house that escalate when the daughter disappears and the closeness between Sydney and the brothers is threatened by jealousy in many forms. I enjoyed this book and give it an A+! ( )
  moonshineandrosefire | Feb 3, 2012 |
In Anita Shreve's novels, the characters are often deceived about the true nature of their closest relationships. Sydney, who has little intentions of getting involved after having been divorced once and then widowed, is lured into a romance with the older of two brothers. She, however, is just caught in his rivalry with his brother.

Sydney is the lens through which all the members of the family are seen, at times with shifting clarity. The teen who she is tutoring finds an escape from her mother's hovering concern and control. ( )
  bookfest | Sep 30, 2011 |
Listened to the NLS Talking Book version. Very descriptive of surroundings and feelings. Plot is strange and examines human interactions. ( )
  luvlylibrarian | Jun 6, 2011 |
Showing 1-5 of 48 (next | show all)
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Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0316059854, Hardcover)

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

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:47:41 -0500)

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