Alice Elliott Dark

Jane MacLeod's life is chronicled in this short first novel from Alice Elliott Dark. We first meet nine year old Jane in rural Pennsylvania where she aspires to be a writer. Under bed covers and behind doors, she writes stories about her family. [Confessional: For a moment this activity reminded me of Harriet, the Spy. By comparison, Jane is more introspective and less mean.] Jane claims she can remember the moment she was born. She carefully watches her parents and their teetering-on-rocky show more relationship. As young as she is, Jane understands not all is perfect in their household. She can tell when her mother has had too much to drink and she listens closely when the adults talk snipe at each other openly; when her parents forget they are not alone in the room. After a tragic accident, the story jumps many years and Jane is now far away from her family and living in London as a twenty-something writer. She has befriended a few artists, who encourage her poetic endeavors, and a married man who encourages her romantic ones. Fast forward a bunch of years and Jane is back in the States, now living in New York with a daughter of her own. Reunited with family, Jane comes full circle in her quest to understand the tragedy which separated them so long ago. show less

Author Agnes Lee has made a name for herself with a series of children’s books about character, Nan, a self-assured little girl who gets into all kinds of adventures, but her passion is more for the "fly on the wall" series of novels she writes under a pen name about her fellow moneyed Philadelphians. Her friend Polly Wister has made a life for herself as a mother and as a wife, dedicated to brightening the lives of those around her, soothing her husband’s fragile ego and striving never show more to rock the boat. Both born to generational wealth in an era when a woman’s best hope and expectation was to make a matrimonial match, the two take sharply divergent paths in their lives, but those paths always lead to summers on Fellowship Point in Maine. Agnes, having recently received a cancer diagnosis, is determined to find a way to preserve the wildlife sanctuary that exists on the families’ lands there and to finish one final novel before the end of her days. Unfortunately, money-grubbing cousin Archie and Polly’s husband, Dick, who is rapidly descending into dementia, stand in her way.

Fellowship Point is a long, contemplative book that touches on many themes – feminism, friendship, philosophy, aging, love, and land ownership. More than that, however, it’s a touching character study that illuminates the beauty of a friendship between two women who often couldn’t be more different from each other growing old side by side. I couldn’t put down this tale of forthright, opinionated spinster Agnes with her hidden heart of gold and equilibrium-seeking Polly whose deference and willingness to put her family’s needs ahead of her own belies an inner backbone and intelligence that often is a surprise even to her.

In Dark’s hands, Agnes and Polly’s beloved Maine comes vividly to life, and provides a setting rife with both fond and dark memories for the pair of octogenarians to reflect upon. I loved this story and the unique perspective of these women who are not ready to be pushed aside, even though society and their families both are hard at work trying to minimize them as they age. The slow unveiling of Agnes’s secrets keeps the pages turning, but arguably the best thing about Fellowship Point is the thoughtful depiction of a lifelong friendship between women who know each other often better than they know themselves. show less

Books can be beloved and be flawed; such is the case with this one. A family saga set in coastal Maine, there's one unnecessary arc for what should be a minor character, which would have allowed for a tighter plot and the elimination of at least 75 pages. However, the central story is a good one: two friends, Agnes and Polly, have grown up together in a Quaker community in Philadelphia and in a quiet summer spot, a community made up of their "cottages" and the working class village whose show more citizens support the wealthy homeowners. Agnes is the author of two fiction series - one of which she is renowned for and the other under a pen name. Her friend Polly is the mother of four and the obsequious helpmeet to her alarmingly selfish philosophy professor husband. The narrative is cast between two eras - the 1960s, when several tragedies occur in Maine; and the 2000's, when both women are in their frail eighties. A new editor, Maud, is pressing Agnes to tie up her series with a memoir, and she's the instrument for the major reveals that unfold a bit too slowly. However, this almost 600 page novel is well worth the time spent, especially for the character studies of the friends, so remarkably touching for their knowledge of each other and the longevity of their unique connection. show less

I can pinpoint the exact page on which this went from a 5-star read to a 2-star read for me. I'm reading along, loving this realistic, warm view of adult female friendships and aging. I'm loving 2 of the 3 main POV characters, and the 3rd is good enough (and rare enough) that its not impacting my enjoyment. And then the "twist" gets foreshadowed. A character has a line about when a particular event happened and I thought "oh no, don't tell me X is going to happen." And I was so bothered by show more this thought that I immediately googled, something I never do, only to find that X was indeed going to happen. I should have put the book down right then and just appreciated the first 51%. Instead I kept going, hoping somehow this twist wouldn't be as awful as I thought. Unfortunately, it was worse. I don't understand why the author felt the need to ruin a wonderful book with a soap opera level coincidence, but it truly impacted the way I felt about the entire novel. I get that twists are the hot thing in books these days but please, I'm begging of you authors, stop forcing them into books that were lovely just the way they were. show less