Helpful Score: 3
I wish for every book I read to be at least as good as this one!
Helpful Score: 2
I liked the characters in this book, but I didn't love it the way I do Norah Roberts or Debbie Macomber. Still, it was a very nice story.
Helpful Score: 2
I think this is one of the best of Anne Rivers Siddons Lowcountry stories of a group of friends set in SC. There is a surprise ending. I love all her books.
Helpful Score: 1
What a bunch of snobbish tripe!
It wasn't worth wading through to get to the utterly impossible ending. If you are addicted to Anne Rivers Siddons you just might need to read it for a fix, but it wouldn't be a quick one. It takes a long while to get through, and if your reading time is valuable to you, I'd skip it entirely
Purchase at your own risk!
It wasn't worth wading through to get to the utterly impossible ending. If you are addicted to Anne Rivers Siddons you just might need to read it for a fix, but it wouldn't be a quick one. It takes a long while to get through, and if your reading time is valuable to you, I'd skip it entirely
Purchase at your own risk!
Helpful Score: 1
I didn't want this book ever to end.
Helpful Score: 1
Very good read. Interesting characters. Lots of Heartbreak and Joy.
Helpful Score: 1
Wonderful tale of a close group of friends and the secret that comes out that will stun them all. Great summer reading!
Helpful Score: 1
Rivers Siddons is an expert about recreating the beautiful low country of Charlston. Her stories are long narratives about friendship, love and betrayal. Good read.
Siddons is one of my favorite authors so I am probably prejudiced about this book but I thought it was great! A little depressing. I don't remember her other books being quite so morose but even with that being said it certainly kept my interest. Her characters are always so believable and become friends of the reader as well. She still remains, in my opinion, a terrific writer.
Helpful Score: 1
Siddons at her best. Could not put the book down. Loved the lasting devotion of these long time low country friends, maintaining their friendships through all the years of good and bad. I was surprised with the "twist" at the end. Highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to read Anne Rivers Siddons!
Helpful Score: 1
Like a book with a major twist at the end? This one is for you!
loved this book. interesting all the way through. unexpected events.
I love these book by Anne Rivers Siddon. Always about the south. Quick
beach read.
beach read.
Anny Butler, a director of an agency devoted to the welfare of children, marries Lewis Aiken, a surgeon, 15 years her senior. With her husband comes a group of friends, the Scribus, that become like a family to her. They grow close at a beach house which they co-own where they vow to take care of each other. This is a novel of love that is united and secrets that could drive them apart.
a beautiful story
Anne Rivers Siddons did it again! I love her books! This one has an unexpected twist that sneaks up on you at the end! A great vacation read!
I enjoyed this book. The ending was a surprise.
In a rambling island cottage in the Carolina Lowcountry, a woman will discover that family has many meanings...and that some loves carry a secret and a terrible price.
One of her best
I found this story very entertaining and readable.
Anne Rivers Siddons, still one of the best contemporay "southern writers" out there.
This is my first read by the author, and I found the book extremely well written, evoking a lot of emotions in me, both tearful and joyful. It surely gave me insight into life in the low-country of Charleston and its islands, and the characters enveloped me wholly and completely. Loved and related to each and every one.
In a rambling island cottage in the Caroling Lowcountry, a woman will discover that family has many meanings, and that some loves carry a secret and a terrible price
Great story.
If you're a Pat Conroy fan, you'll love this book!
Anny Butler has always been a caretaker, a nurturer, first for her own brothers and sisters, and then as the director of an agency devoted to the welfare of children. What she has never had is a family of her own to care for. That all changes when she meets and marries Lewis Aiken, an exuberant surgeon fifteen years Anny's senior.
When they marry, Anny finds her family - not a traditional one, but a group of childhood friends from Charleston who are inseparable; who are one another's surrogate family. They call themselves The Scrubs, and they all, in some way, are connected by the cord of family. Instantly upon meeting them at the old beach house on Sullivan's Island, which they co-own, Anny knows that she has ultimately found home and family. They vow that, when the time comes, they will find a place by the sea where they can live together.
Bad things begin to happen - a hurricane, a fire, deaths - but still the remaining Scrubs cling together. They are watched over and bolstered by Camilla Curry, the heart and core of the group, always the healer. For the first time in her life, Anny allows Camilla to enfold her and to care for her with a kind of love and support that Anny has never experienced.
I loved this book; it was one of those books that you can get lost in the storytelling of it. I'm really beginning to enjoy Anne Rivers Siddons as an author and look forward avidly to the next book of hers that I read. I have added three more books by Anne Rivers Siddons on to my Wish List and give Islands by Anne Rivers Siddons an A+!
When they marry, Anny finds her family - not a traditional one, but a group of childhood friends from Charleston who are inseparable; who are one another's surrogate family. They call themselves The Scrubs, and they all, in some way, are connected by the cord of family. Instantly upon meeting them at the old beach house on Sullivan's Island, which they co-own, Anny knows that she has ultimately found home and family. They vow that, when the time comes, they will find a place by the sea where they can live together.
Bad things begin to happen - a hurricane, a fire, deaths - but still the remaining Scrubs cling together. They are watched over and bolstered by Camilla Curry, the heart and core of the group, always the healer. For the first time in her life, Anny allows Camilla to enfold her and to care for her with a kind of love and support that Anny has never experienced.
I loved this book; it was one of those books that you can get lost in the storytelling of it. I'm really beginning to enjoy Anne Rivers Siddons as an author and look forward avidly to the next book of hers that I read. I have added three more books by Anne Rivers Siddons on to my Wish List and give Islands by Anne Rivers Siddons an A+!
Beautifully written, in true Anne Rivers Siddons style, this book is more of a mystery-type than any of her others.
Started out good but half way thru it started to drag. The auathor got way too wordy. I finally had to give up on the book.
Very enjoyable, humorous book.
My bookclub read this book and all 20 of us found it rather boring, going on and on and on about sleepy relationships between 3 sets of friends who worked in a local hospital. The called themselves "the scrubs," and shared a summer cottage on the ocean front.
These couples drip with wealth, and there is NO ACTION whatsoever until the last 10 pages of the book.
Readers do get a glimpse of what life is like for the wealthy in the Carolina's, but other than that its rather a boring read.
These couples drip with wealth, and there is NO ACTION whatsoever until the last 10 pages of the book.
Readers do get a glimpse of what life is like for the wealthy in the Carolina's, but other than that its rather a boring read.
We listened to this on a very long car trip, and enjoyed it immensely (my husband and me). Although it is abridged, it didn't feel like it missed anything. Covers the lives of a group of friends for about 20 years.
An excellent read. You will be surprised at the ending!!
A story of love and of deep friendships that last years. Tragedy is overcome by those deep ties ...and a cool twist at the end! I enjoyed this book very much.
Siddons' writing places the reader in the midst of its location and time. From their childhood through their ageing years, "The Scrubs" make you a part of their group. The Southern character of Charleston is described to a T.
I have enjoyed all Anne Rivers Siddons books, this one is no exception.
A riveting read by the Queen of the South. Her rich characters and settings pulse with the uniqueness of real people meeting real challenges.
Another winner by Anne Rivers Siddons. Good story of friendship with a little mystery thrown in.
A group of childhood friends and their spouses decide to share their retirement years - life interferes with their plans as they face secrets, injury, and deaths and attempt to help each other through it.
Born and raised in the South I love it when I come across an author who can capture the true essence of Southern living. Siddons has captured the flow of our land with the marvelous natural landscape of nature and charectors. Islands weaves you into the blended friendships of her charectors with a true twist in her plot.
"In a rambling island cottage in the Carolina Lowcountry, a woman will discover that family has many meanings...and that some loves carry a secret and a terrible price." Good reading.
As always, I loved Anne Rivers Siddons book! Very engaging and emotional.
This is a wonderful book...a little slow at times but the detail is what makes it so inviting to read.
Excellent book. ARS never disappoints me!
I really liked this book.
What a wonderful depiction of Southern ways; life-long friendships and strange happenings.
A very interesting and entertaining read about a host of fascinating characters. I loved the descriptions of the scenery, houses and people and their relationships. I feel like I got to know them all well.
Classic Anne Rivers Siddons
Another lovely piece of fiction by Simmons. Anny and the Scrubs are wonderfully written, and their interactions so engaging. I can't say there was a surprise at the end as personally I saw where it was going long before, but the ride was worth the time.
Friendship, vacation home on the beach and relationships that have lasted years upon years. Storms will come in personal relationships and in the form of hurricanes - will they all weather through them? A definite must read by Siddons!!
Another delightful Siddons. Four strong "older" women decide to take care of each other in their later years. A fine interaction of characters and setting.
Great story!! Just loved it!!
I didn't read this, but my cousin and aunt both loved it. "Rendezvous" called it "remarkably romantic and thoroughly enchanting."
I had a hard time getting into this, I never even finished it. In the front cover it says: In a rambling island cottage in the Carolina Lowcountry, a woman will discover that family has many meanings...and that some loves carry a secret and a terrible price.
I truly enjoyed this book. It's about a group of friends who meet every year on an island for their vacation. You really get absorbed into their lives.
This was one of the first of Anne Rivers Siddon that I read. I fell in love with her style of writing, I felt as if I were there in the book itself.
I hated the main character and found the storyline kinda dumb. Oh well. I still finished the book.
I LOVED this book! Could not put it down and was very surprised at the ending!
Anne Butler is a caretaker, a nurturer, first for her own brothers and sisters, and then as a director of an agency devoted to the welfare of children. What she has never had is a real family. That changed when she met Lewis Aiken, and exuberant surgeon fifteen years older than Anny. When they marry, she finds her family. Not a traditional one, but a group of Charleston childhood friends who are inseperable, who are one another's surrogate family. They are called the Scrubs.
Instantly upon meeting them at the old beach house on Sullivans Island, which they co-own, Anny knows that she has found home and family.
Bad things begin to happen, but still the remaining Scrubs cling together, watched over and bolstered by Camilla Curry, the heart and core of their group. It is the first time Anny has felt this kind of love and support. But Anny must learn that everything is not as it seems, that some loves carry a secret and terrible price.
Instantly upon meeting them at the old beach house on Sullivans Island, which they co-own, Anny knows that she has found home and family.
Bad things begin to happen, but still the remaining Scrubs cling together, watched over and bolstered by Camilla Curry, the heart and core of their group. It is the first time Anny has felt this kind of love and support. But Anny must learn that everything is not as it seems, that some loves carry a secret and terrible price.
From the back cover: "In a rambling island cottage in the Carolina lowcountry, a woman will discover that family has many meanings...and that some loves carry a secret and a terrible price."
TRADE SIZED PAPERBACK
TRADE SIZED PAPERBACK
A director of an agency devoted to the welfare of children, Anny Butler has never had a real family. That changes when she marries Lewis Aiken, an exuberant surgeon fifteen years her senior. And with her new husband comes the Scrubs, a group of inseperable Charleston friends, who become Anny's devoted surrogate family.
