Helpful Score: 6
My Amazon review - I just reread this book for the first time since it was published in 1992. In the decade since I first devoured this 600+ page novel in one weekend I have become a wife, a daughter-in-law and a mother, so those relationships in this story now have an even deeper meaning to me. I don't think I can express strongly enough how thoroughly I was pulled into this tale, caught up in the weave of Siddons masterful storytelling and reluctant to extract myself at the end. I cried for these characters, laughed with them, hated some of them as passionately as I loved others, and finally thanked God that I am not, and never will be, anything like them. Siddons has created a world that I fervently hope has no equal in reality, as the thought of the extremes encountered in good and evil in this tale coexisting in one place, in one lifetime, is almost too much to bear. This is an enchanting story that may put you through the wringer, but it is so very worth it.
Helpful Score: 2
Another one of Anne Rivers Siddons wonderful, complicated, emotional stories. I could not put it down.
Helpful Score: 2
If it's gothic, Siddons (Outer Banks, King's Oak, etc.) can do it, or so it would appear in this latest novel destined for commercial success. In it, she takes her gifts for melodrama and tangling family trees up north, to a summer colony for Boston Brahmins on the coast of Maine, called simply ``Retreat.'' But Siddons's heroine is a southerner, and on her she demonstrates one of her best tricks--her deep intimacy with her leading ladies, which the author shares with her readers from the get-go. Anyway, it isn't easy for sweet young Maude Gascoigne, from a moldering plantation near Charleston, to fit in when her new husband, sterling-silver Peter Chambliss (of a Boston banking family, Princeton, and Retreat), takes her to the summer place. For the first few decades Maude battles it out with her insufferable, hypercritical mother-in-law, the drunken and lecherous husband of her best friend, Amy Potter, and even Peter himself--a depressive, hermetic man who just sails away whenever things get rough. Gradually, though, little Maudie gets some starch and learns to endure almost anything, including: the death of her mother-in-law (``my beloved enemy''); Peter's weird coldness to his own two children, which ultimately sends the younger, Happy, to a sanitarium; the death of a grandson; the return of a bad seed, Elizabeth, Amy Potter's girl, who does her best to break up Maude's son's marriage; and whispers that float on the salt spray every summer about how much Elizabeth looks like Peter. Well, it turns out that Elizabeth's connection to Peter is very much an issue--but we're not telling why. Long-suffering Maude may not be everyone's cup of tea, but this time Siddons gets the melodrama balance just right and shows she's as much at home in Maine as she was in Georgia. Fans will be doing cartwheels, and others will queue up.
Helpful Score: 1
There are beach reads and then there are great beach reads. This one is a great beach read. Not necessarily great literature but a very good story.
A young Southern woman marries into an aristocratic Boston family and spends her summers at a vacation community on the Maine coast. Siddons excels at describing characters and places. She tells a multigenerational story, exploring her characters' ties to their family and friends.
A story of a bride new to S. Carolina, and of her life with her new family and friends as her life goes on.
From the back:
A wonderful saga....If you want to sink into a novel and be entirely enveloped by it, this is the one. Siddons has captured the richness and complications of female friendships in a way few writers have done.
A wonderful saga....If you want to sink into a novel and be entirely enveloped by it, this is the one. Siddons has captured the richness and complications of female friendships in a way few writers have done.
Loved it, loved it, loved it------------need I say more?
Presents the strong will of a southern gal who marries rich and summers yearly in the Colony. A group of wealthy who have a group of cottages on the East coast. It gets into the lives of all who summer there, and their interactions with one another. I enjoyed the book, but was blown away at the end. DO NOT READ THE END FIRST!!
This three hour audio is another one of Siddons' great stories. Maude Chambliss learns the "rules" from her mother-in-law Hannah of how to keep alive the spirit of past generations in this beloved summer retreat.
This book was an interesting story about several generations of families that summer in Maine. It was quite long, but was easy to read.
A wonderful portrayal of North vs South in culture and traditions and the durability of those traditions.
If you really like to get into the people side of a book this is a must read.
Another wonderful book written by Anne Rivers Siddons set in South Carolina's Low Country.
Fantastic beach book--epic story running through multiple family generations, totally fun.
This is the story of Maude, a new bride from South Carolina whose new husband is from an old, aristocratic Maine family and spans many years. It is an outstanding novel -- one of Anne Rivers Siddons best!
Recommended by friends who loved it - 3 monthes on the NY Times Bestseller list.
This is, by far, the best Siddons book that I have read - so much so that I read it twice, all 600 pages of it. It truly is an unforgettable story of love, acceptance and tradition.
A very good multigenerational novel.
one of my favorite reads. great story
Good book. Enticed me to buy more of the author's books. Mine has a different scene on the cover.
Thus far, this is my favorite Anne Rivers Siddons book. It sticks with you for awhile after reading it.
A great beach book, with lots of scandals and great characters
Maude Chambliss arrives at the seasonal home of her family as a 19 year old bride fresh from S. Carolina's low country. She is an outsider and no one thinks she will ever fit in. Over the years she comes to cherish life in the colony and makes friends while dealing with her overbearing mother in law, dark spirited husband and fragile children.
I loved this book. I have read it three times. Very bittersweet story.
An Unforgettable story of love, acceptance & Tradition.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
When Maude Chambliss first arrives at Retreat, the seasonal home of her husband's aristocratic family, she is a nineteen-year-old bride fresh from South Carolina's Low Country. Among the patrician men and women who reside in the summer colony on the coast of Maine, her gypsy-like beauty and impulsive behavior immediately brand her an outsider. She, as well as everyone else, is certain she will never fit in. And of course, she doesn't ... at first.
But over the many summers she spends there, Maude comes to cherish life in the colony, as she does the people who share it with her. There is her husband Peter, consumed with a darkness of spirit; her adored but dangerously fragile children; her domineering mother-in-law, who teaches her that it is the women who possess the strength to keep the colony intact; and Maine native Micah Willis, who is ultimately Maude's truest friend.
When Maude Chambliss first arrives at Retreat, the seasonal home of her husband's aristocratic family, she is a nineteen-year-old bride fresh from South Carolina's Low Country. Among the patrician men and women who reside in the summer colony on the coast of Maine, her gypsy-like beauty and impulsive behavior immediately brand her an outsider. She, as well as everyone else, is certain she will never fit in. And of course, she doesn't ... at first.
But over the many summers she spends there, Maude comes to cherish life in the colony, as she does the people who share it with her. There is her husband Peter, consumed with a darkness of spirit; her adored but dangerously fragile children; her domineering mother-in-law, who teaches her that it is the women who possess the strength to keep the colony intact; and Maine native Micah Willis, who is ultimately Maude's truest friend.
The story follows a woman from the Carolinas who married a New Englander whose family spent every summer up on the Maine coast, in a close-knit "colony" of other New Englanders (therefore very different from the Southerner bride). She remains different, but works her way into the hearts of some really nice people and in the end loves this spot in Maine more than any other place on earth. You follow her through 612 pages (in my copy, which has the same ISBN, but a different cover from the one pictured) of joy and tragedy, to the end of her life at a ripe old age.
This is a great book. It is long but very worth the read.
Beautiful evocation of summer on the coast of Maine. Made me homesick.
Ok, I don't exactly get the connection between why Peter was so attentive to Elizabeth and the fact that she looked like him. If he was the father of Elizabeth's baby that died, he couldn't have also been her father, right? There was never anything about his relationship with Elizabeth's mother. Please explain.Thank you.
A very nice story. Wish real life could be like this.
Another great book by Anne Rivers Siddons. You don't want this book to end.
Large paperback...advanced reading copy
This is one of those books that I didn't think was going to be worth the time, but was I wrong! I really loved how the main character developed. It gave me insight on how life experiences may change your perspective on things.
Poor woman adjusts to husband rich family
One of Siddons' really good books. Keeps you reading and reading.
GREAT book especially if you like to live sea-side or lake-side ... follows a "colony" of sea-siders thru generations ... good read
When Maude arrives at Retreat, the seasonal home of her husbands aristoratic Yankee family, she is a young bride and as wild as the SC Low Country from where she comes - a beatiful story of Maude's life.
A young bride from South Carolinas Low Country finds problems when shes not readily accepted in her husbands aristocratic in a summer colony in Maine.
One of her best!
An unforgettable story of love, acceptance, and tradition.
When Maude Chambliss first arrives at Retreat, the seasonal home of her husband's aristocratic family, she is a nineteen-year-old bride fresh from South Carolina's Low Country. Among the patrician men and women who reside in the summer colony on the coast of Maine, her gypsy-like beauty and impulsive behavior immediately brand her an outsider. She, as well as everyone else, is certain she will never fit in. And of course, she doesn't...at first.
But over the many summers she spends there, Maude comes to cherish life in the colony, as she does the people who share it with her. There is her husband Peter, consumed with a darkness of spirit; her adored but dangerously fragile children; her domineering mother-in-law, who teaches her that it is the women who posses the strength to keep the colony intact; and Maine native Micah Willis, who is ultimately Maude's truest friend.
This brilliant novel, rich with emotion, is filled with appealing, intense, and indomitable characters. Anne Rivers Siddons paints a portrait of a woman determined to preserve the spirit of past generations--and the future of aplaice where she became who she is...a place called Colony.
When Maude Chambliss first arrives at Retreat, the seasonal home of her husband's aristocratic family, she is a nineteen-year-old bride fresh from South Carolina's Low Country. Among the patrician men and women who reside in the summer colony on the coast of Maine, her gypsy-like beauty and impulsive behavior immediately brand her an outsider. She, as well as everyone else, is certain she will never fit in. And of course, she doesn't...at first.
But over the many summers she spends there, Maude comes to cherish life in the colony, as she does the people who share it with her. There is her husband Peter, consumed with a darkness of spirit; her adored but dangerously fragile children; her domineering mother-in-law, who teaches her that it is the women who posses the strength to keep the colony intact; and Maine native Micah Willis, who is ultimately Maude's truest friend.
This brilliant novel, rich with emotion, is filled with appealing, intense, and indomitable characters. Anne Rivers Siddons paints a portrait of a woman determined to preserve the spirit of past generations--and the future of aplaice where she became who she is...a place called Colony.
when maude chambiss first arrrives at the retreat, the seasonal home of her husbands aristocratic family, she is a 19 yr old bride fresh from south carolina's low country. among the patrician men and women who reside in the summer colony on the coast of main, her gypsy like beauty and impulsive behavior immediately brand her an outsider. over the summers maude comes to cherish life in the colony as she does the people
When Maude Chambliss first arrives at Retreat, the seasonal home of her husband's aristocratic family, she is a 19 year old bride from South Carolina's low country. She doesn't fit in with the other residents of the patrician summer colony, especially her mother-in-law. This story tells of the changes both in her attitude and that of the others toward her. I enjoyed the book very much.
When Maude Chambliss first arrives at Retreat, the seasonal home for her husband's aristocratic family she is nineteen -year-old bride fresh from South Carolina Low Country. Among the patrician men and women who reside int he summer colon6y on the coast of Main, her gypsy-0like beauty and impulsive behavior immediately brand her an outsider. She, as well as everyone else, is certain she will never fit in. And of course she doesn't ...
The brilliant novel , rich with emotion, is filled with appealing, intense and indomitable characters.
The brilliant novel , rich with emotion, is filled with appealing, intense and indomitable characters.
Different cover, but same great story
From the back cover:
When Maude Chambliss first arrives at Retreat, the seasonal home of her husband's aristocratic family, she is a nineteen-year-old bride fresh from South Carolina's Low Country. Among the patrician men and women who reside in the summer colony on the coast of Maine, her gypsy-like beauty impulive behavior immediately brand her an outsider. She, as well as everyone else, is certain she will never fit in. And of course, she doesn't...at first.
But over the many summers she spends there, Maude comes to cherish life in the colony, as she does the people who share it with her. There is her husband Peter, consumed with a darkness of spirit, her adored but dangerously fragile children; her domineering mother-in-law who teaches her that it is the women who posess the strength to keep the colony intact; and Maine native Micah Willis, who is ultimately Maude's truest friend.
When Maude Chambliss first arrives at Retreat, the seasonal home of her husband's aristocratic family, she is a nineteen-year-old bride fresh from South Carolina's Low Country. Among the patrician men and women who reside in the summer colony on the coast of Maine, her gypsy-like beauty impulive behavior immediately brand her an outsider. She, as well as everyone else, is certain she will never fit in. And of course, she doesn't...at first.
But over the many summers she spends there, Maude comes to cherish life in the colony, as she does the people who share it with her. There is her husband Peter, consumed with a darkness of spirit, her adored but dangerously fragile children; her domineering mother-in-law who teaches her that it is the women who posess the strength to keep the colony intact; and Maine native Micah Willis, who is ultimately Maude's truest friend.
When Maude Chambliss first arrives at Retreat, the seasonal home of her husband's aristocratic family, she is a nineteen-year-old bride fresh from South Carolina's Low Country. Among the patrician men and women who reside in the summer colony on the coast of Maine, her gypsy-like beauty and impulsive behavior immediately brand her an outsider. She, as well as everyone else, is certain she will never fit in. And of course, she doesn't...at first.
But over the many summers she spends there, Maude comes to cherish life in the colony, as she does the people who share it with her. There is her husband Peter, consumed with a darkness of spirit; her adored but dangerously fragile children; her domineering mother-in-law, who teaches her that it is the women who posses the strength to keep the colony intact; and Maine native Micah Willis, who is ultimately Maude's truest friend.
But over the many summers she spends there, Maude comes to cherish life in the colony, as she does the people who share it with her. There is her husband Peter, consumed with a darkness of spirit; her adored but dangerously fragile children; her domineering mother-in-law, who teaches her that it is the women who posses the strength to keep the colony intact; and Maine native Micah Willis, who is ultimately Maude's truest friend.
