Helpful Score: 10
This is my second book by Mansay (read "Vinegar Hill" first), and I have to say I really like her writing. She is so good at capturing emotions - REAL emotions - and the characters have such depth that you feel you really get to know them and have these vague yet somehow solid pictures of them in your mind.
This book was sad because of the tragedy that sends Meg and her husband out to sail the "blue water," but the true sadness was how they dealt - or didn't deal - with their loss. It makes one think of what on earth you would do in the face of such a tragedy. Simply hating the person who brought it on is not always so easy - nor is it very healthy.
This book was sad because of the tragedy that sends Meg and her husband out to sail the "blue water," but the true sadness was how they dealt - or didn't deal - with their loss. It makes one think of what on earth you would do in the face of such a tragedy. Simply hating the person who brought it on is not always so easy - nor is it very healthy.
Helpful Score: 5
This novel was my introduction to A. Ansay's writing and I loved every minute of it. I couldn't put the book down and finished it in 2 days. It was very well written with real emotion throughout. It was heartbreaking as the couple tried to move past their tragedy. I would love to read more books by Ms. Ansay.
Helpful Score: 4
Touching and poignant, as are all of Ansay,s novels, I loved this and could not put it down once I started it. Bestselling author, one of Ophra,s bookclub favorites.
Helpful Score: 2
I found this book a very engaging read. While Im not a follower of sailing, I felt that the core story was centered on the characters and how they tried to deal with their loss and how it impacted both their relationship and their feelings on an individual level.
Helpful Score: 2
I really made myself finish this book. I felt the ending was an afterthought and did not flow with the story at all. The book dragged quite a bit and many times I felt I was reading *filler* and was asking what was the point of that?
Helpful Score: 1
This book was absolutely fabulous !!!! I don't know why it was not a best seller. It was eloquently written involving a difficult subject--death of a child. A must read !!!!!! !
Helpful Score: 1
Well-written, powerful novel. I think it's Ansay's best.
Helpful Score: 1
A very good, thought-provoking book.
This book pulled at my heartstrings. Although it is very somber from beginning to end, Ansay does a great job putting emotions into her writing. Excellent story.
Sad story about a couple in Wisconsin who lose their 6 year old child in a car accident. They decide to leave their hometown and live on thier boat sailing to Bermuda and the Bahamas. The woman that hit Megs car was someone they knew and they find out she was drinking. This story shows how everyone is affected by this accident. Good story on relationships between spouses, parents, children and friendships.
This book left me breathless. To understand the meaning of forgiveness, to find hope in the hopeless, to acknowledge that we are all essentially the same, to learn to let go of hate, this story is breathtaking! A moment in time that can't be changed. A "miracle child" who is born to a couple in their 40's is six when he is killed in a car accident caused by a drunken driver. That driver, Cindy Ann, turns out to be a high school friend, a mother of three girls who are all unharmed in the crash. The ties between the grief stricken mother, Meg, and Cindy Ann go back to a time when one confided to the other a terrible secret about her stepfather, who later shot himself. Unable to cope with this the knowledge in this confidence, Meg not only turned away, but implied that Cindy Ann might be to blame for what happened. Now, more than 20 years later, Meg tries to come to terms with the fact that her former friend has killed her son, as friend's children are unhurt. Meg and her husband Rex feel she should be made to pay in some way. They bring a civil suit, but before it is decided, they decide to leave the small Wisconsin town and all the terrible memories lingering there to live on a cruising sailboat. Meg understands that the suit has been dropped. Aboard the boat, and in ports where they land, they pretend to those they meet that they are childless. Still the pain and grief is relentless untill one night, at a girl's night out with women she has met sailing, startling stories of horror and tragedy are reveiled. It is a turning point for Meg. She is driven to find answers for herself, and in doing so, risks everything she has left. One of the best books I have ever read, lilting prose, powerful sentences, astonishing tenderness!
Read this book!
Read this book!
Really held my interest; good read about tragedy, atonement and redemption.
Have wanted to read a book by this author for some time and a reading challenge spurred me to do it. This is a book about grief, dreams, forgiveness and change. It begins when Meg is driving her son, Evan, to school. An SUV driven by an old friend slams into her car and Evan dies. Evan is the only son of Meg and Rex Van Dorn who tried for years to have a child. They felt particularly blessed when Evan was born. To have him taken away so quickly by a drunken driver angers them beyond belief.
As Meg begins to heal she and Rex express their anger to each other and their family. Rex decides they should sue the driver of the other car. Meg agrees at first but as she begins to have doubts and she wonders if this is the way to heal. The couple decides to spend months sailing to assuage their grief so they buy a sailboat. Meg quits her job and Rex takes a leave of absence but their new experiences and life aboard the sailboat only emphasize their differences in how they grieve. Their relationship deteriorates when Meg discovers that Rex kept moving on suing the driver when she said she wanted to drop the suit.
Complicating the picture, Meg's brother is in love with a sister of the driver. Meg is happy for Toby and attends the wedding. Seeing how happy he is, she begins to talk with the driver who has fallen into deep depression due to a childhood incident with her stepfather. The story continues as the characters try to sort their lives out. Can Meg forgive Cindy, the driver? Will Rex understand Meg's refusal to sign papers for settlement? How will all this affect Meg and Rex's mariage?
Scattered throughout the book are memories of Evan that surface periodically. Meg even finds herself talking to him even though she knows he is gone. I understand this experience for I find myself talking to a sister who died unexpectedly whenever I need advice. This is an emotional read that will mean most to those who have experienced the loss of someone special. Thus, I cannot say whether it will be appreciated by those who have not had this experience.
As Meg begins to heal she and Rex express their anger to each other and their family. Rex decides they should sue the driver of the other car. Meg agrees at first but as she begins to have doubts and she wonders if this is the way to heal. The couple decides to spend months sailing to assuage their grief so they buy a sailboat. Meg quits her job and Rex takes a leave of absence but their new experiences and life aboard the sailboat only emphasize their differences in how they grieve. Their relationship deteriorates when Meg discovers that Rex kept moving on suing the driver when she said she wanted to drop the suit.
Complicating the picture, Meg's brother is in love with a sister of the driver. Meg is happy for Toby and attends the wedding. Seeing how happy he is, she begins to talk with the driver who has fallen into deep depression due to a childhood incident with her stepfather. The story continues as the characters try to sort their lives out. Can Meg forgive Cindy, the driver? Will Rex understand Meg's refusal to sign papers for settlement? How will all this affect Meg and Rex's mariage?
Scattered throughout the book are memories of Evan that surface periodically. Meg even finds herself talking to him even though she knows he is gone. I understand this experience for I find myself talking to a sister who died unexpectedly whenever I need advice. This is an emotional read that will mean most to those who have experienced the loss of someone special. Thus, I cannot say whether it will be appreciated by those who have not had this experience.
Good book - it is an emotional read, sad, and thought-provoking.
This book is very sad but a quick read. One of those that stay in your mind after you finish it.
From New York Times Bestselling Author A. Manette Ansay comes an unforgettable story of two families united by tragedy -- and one woman's deeply emotional journey toward a choce she'd never have thought possible.
Excellent book! Quick,easy read.
Very descriptive characters. Plot thickens with decisions regarding continuing life after their son dies. The direction their lives go forward has many twists, some tense, some of relief. The reader develops strong views on relationships within the story. Great read!
Excellent and moving book about coping witht the loss of a child
On an ordinary morning in Fox Harbor. wisconsin, Meg and Rex Van Dorn's lives are irrevocably changed when a drunk driver - Meg's onetime best friend, Cindy Ann Kreisler-slamsinto the Van Dorns' car, killing their six-yesr-old son, Evan.
The story goes on through the couples first year after their child's death. Describing the ways in which they try to cope - make sense of it all. Ansay provides observant insight into each character and dekivers it though her powerful writing.
The story goes on through the couples first year after their child's death. Describing the ways in which they try to cope - make sense of it all. Ansay provides observant insight into each character and dekivers it though her powerful writing.
Quite a page turner!
Very good story. Good writing. Will read more of this author.
at first I did not think I was going to like this book, about boating, but I continued on and it is a great book! reminds me a little of Jodi Picoult, how a tragedy affects every person in the family, neighbors, friends, etc. would definetly recommend, but I also enjoy A.Manette Ansay's writing, and her other books.
This was a really sad story about a family who had lost a child because of a drunk driver.
Good storyteller!
The book was just an ok read for me. While I loved the basic story line of overcoming the death of a child and forgiveness, the other parts on boating were far too detailed and I had no idea what some of the terms were because I have never been on a boat , nor do I want to. She could have stuck more to the basic plotline that veering so far off with all of the boating details. Overall it was a good story, but not one to keep for the bookshelf. Had to force myself to finish it.
Excellent book, a very powerful story from an excellent writer.
Quite a good book. the ending surprised me
If you love the sea you will love this book. If you love sailing you will love this book
great story
great writing
by the author of Vinegar Hill
great writing
by the author of Vinegar Hill
