Strange Fits of Passion

It's not a new story -- an abusive relationship escalates until the victim flees, the aggressor finds her, and violence ensues.

Shreve has chosen to approach it via the stories of multiple people involved, including the writer whose cover story in a major magazine may have influenced the eventual verdict. The multiple-voice narration works well, but the magazine story (which is included toward the end of the narrative) feels very clumsy and poorly written, in marked contrast to Shreve's normal style.

And underlying the whole thing is a level of discomfort with the actions of the victim. The reader must keep reminding him/herself that the story, set in 1971, far predates the infamous "burning bed" incident of 1977 in which a long-abused show more woman killed her sleeping husband, and the 1978 Rideout case in Oregon, which led to legal recognition of marital rape and established it as a crime. Even given the era's lack of acknowledgement of the widespread nature of domestic abuse and the lack of legal/social support available for victims, it's difficult to understand many of the main character's actions. show less

An engaging and interesting read. It was particularly instructive to spend time thinking about domestic violence and attitudes to it back in 1971. The tale is told by various characters from a small Maine fishing town and Maureen, a woman escaping an abusive relationship. It is gripping and chilling and full of a cold Maine winter and lobster fishing.

In the early 1970s, domestic violence was still something that was whispered about. It was not normally on the front pages of the newspapers. Maureen English, with her baby Caroline, flees her abusive husband and ends up in a tiny town in Maine and assumes a new identity. As her bruises heal and the people in the small town guess at what brought her to them and begin to take her in, Maureen starts to feel somewhat safer but knows, if Harold finds her, he will kill her for leaving him and taking his child. The story is told through interviews a crime reporter did for a story on Maureen and Harold. It is mostly Maureen's voice, but there are also interviews with some of the town's residents and what they felt about Maureen and the show more situation. There are also questions about the crime reporter's truthfulness in her article and also the veracity of Maureen. There is no doubt from the very beginning that there will not be a happy ending, but Shreve keeps the reader on the edge of their seat getting to that point. show less

Despite the uncomfortable theme of this novel, it quickly pulls you in, and makes you just want to keep reading and reading, to find out how things happened. The climax of the story is hinted at from very early on, but the details, and the how, are slowly revealed as the book goes on. Being told from the perspectives of several characters gives an extra depth, and a reality, with different people always seeing the same thing slightly, or not so slightly, differently.
One of Anita Shreve's best.

This is an early Anita Shreve book, and the subject is domestic violence and its tragic consequences. The book is a compilation of observations by different people as told in court and to the writer who wrote a book based on her correspondence with the domestic abuse victim. The reasoning of the abused wife for staying with the abuser is potent and pathetic. I was certain that she would have been drawn to another abuser eventually if she hadn't found this particular one.

book about domestic abusive, written in 1991 and set in 1971, when this just wasn't discussed. You knew early that Maureen/Mary killed her husband, but the chapters were written to an author by the different townsfolk where she fled after a severe beating that almost killed her. Intriguing to put the article at the end, and makes you wonder how much media contributed to the woman being disbelieved and convicted.

Quick read- couldn't put it down! Even though it starts with the end.. because you know how it ends with the narrator, you want to read and see how she gets there. A woman tells what it's like to meet and marry a man that abuses her and how you can get sucked into relationships without realizing it. (We need to stary true to ourselves!)