Imagine being a twenty-nine year old woman, one divorced and then once widowed. It's not a very common occurrence, but it is the main character of this book - Sydney's reality. This is the stage of her life in which she finds herself when she goes to work for the Edwards family. Ostensibly to tutor their teenage daughter, Julie, so that she can pass and do well on her upcoming SAT's, Sydney goes to stay with the Edwards at their beach house in New Hampshire. There, she body surfs, meets the Edwards' two sons Ben and Jeff, and begins to live again. As she opens Julie's eyes to her future, to love, Sydney once more opens her own heart and falls in love with Jeff. But then, on the night of her wedding, she learns an hideous truth, sending her life into yet another downward spiral.The interesting thing about this book is, just as Sydney is lied to, so are we as readers. I was none the wiser towards the truth than she was, and, though, in the back of mind, I suspected that something might be wrong, I never thought it was what was eventually revealed. It was heartbreaking and devastating, though my pain, of course, was minor compared to what the character experienced.At the same time, Julie runs away from home, the Edwards brothers get into a fight and never find their way out of it, Sydney forms a close relationship with her future father-in-law, and Mrs. Edwards never once thaws towards her employee/future daughter-in-law. While Sydney is undoubtedly the main character, as a whole, this book is a family drama, exploring all the various relationships one finds present in a nuclear family, making it extremely relatable. Also, due to the fact that it is written in the present tense, there is a sense of 'now' to the story, of the audience, as readers, being present. Though somewhat unconventional, it makes the story stand out.My only complaint about Body Surfing has to deal with the ending. The characters were extremely compelling - all rich and real, and the plot was character driven, my favorite. However, with this praise being said, the ending was abrupt. Though poignant and a fitting close, I also felt as though the story was left unfinished, but perhaps that was the point. Because this book was more of a character study, maybe it was just a brief glimpse into these people's lives and, once it was over, we were to realize that they would continue... even if the novel didn't. Whether this was the case or not, though, I wouldn't have complained if the author - Anita Shreve - would have offered her readers just a little bit more to wrap the tale up.Read more: http://miss-sbooks.livejournal.com/
Despite reading criticisms, I still like the stories of Anita Shreve. A more thorough review coming up! Whew! If only I could write book reviews as fast as I can finish reading books.******************REVIEW UPDATE:I have read two of Anita Shreve’s novels, the first one was The Pilot’s Wife, the story of which I can vaguely remember except that the rating I gave it on Goodreads was 4 stars, which means that I might have fairly enjoyed it. Then I keep seeing some of her books on my favorite bookshop, Booksale, and I cannot just resist not buying them. Who can resist low priced books, anyway? Body Surfing is a story about twenty-nine year old Sydney, a detail that might have partly affected my decision to buy the book because she was my age, plus that it was on sale at the National Bookstore for only Php 50!The story spans for three years – from 2002 up to 2005 – and it is during these years that Sydney finds herself in a roller coaster of emotions and existence brought about by loving and caring. Anita Shreve captures every emotion accurately except that I find Sydney’s grief to be a little bit unconvincing. Or maybe it is just Shreve’s way of leaving the thinking to her readers?Body Surfing is not an excellent read, but not entirely a bad read, either. It’s good company at airports and ferries, not so heavy on the brain cells and not so dense to be altogether boring and uninteresting. The writing is fluid and the style is easy and uncomplicated. The plots are not necessarily original but altogether interesting and captivating. The characters are readable and possessed just the right amount of mystery to make the story not too predictable. It contains enough pace to excite the reader towards the twist and the ending without necessarily making the reader skip some pages. For my complete review, please visit It's A Wonderful Bookworld.
What do You think about Body Surfing (2007)?
Warning! Stay out of the water. It's not safe to go Body Surfing!I've read several Anita Shreve books (Fortune's Rocks, Pilot's Wife, The Last Time They Met) none of which I call stellar but all much better than this one.Sydner Sklar finds herself once widowed and once divorced in her late twenties. She drops out of grad school and takes a summer job as a live in tutor for the Edwards family who live on the idyllic New Hampshire shore. (And who live in the same house that pops up in many Shreve books.) While tutoring 18-year old Julie, Sydney aimlessly drifts into the vortex of this dysfunctional family. Right out of Harlequin, she is attracted to both of the older brothers Ben and Jeff, she is shunned by their cold, resentful mother, and she adores the noble father.Warning. I am about to spoil the plot, if you can actually call it a plot.Over one fateful night, our heroine ends up in a romance with Jeff which drives a wedge between the brothers. Despite a less than compelling relationship, Sydney and Jeff move in together and get engaged. Eleven months later, Jeff dumps her at the altar when he admits to himself and to her that the reason he is with her is because he didn't want his brother Ben to have her. As it turns out, this isn't the first time Jeff has pulled such a stunt in competition with his brother. Jeff heads off to Africa. Sydney loafs around Boston to recover from the shock. She ends up back at the beach several years later and runs into Ben and they end up body surfing naked at night. How stupid.Why am I bothering to write so much about a book I disliked so? Good question. I'll eek a few more words on my 3 biggest gripes.1. The writing style. The first 18 pages is mostly incomplete sentences. I cannot figure out why this writer chose that style. It was hard to immerse myself in the story when it felt like I was skimming along the tops of choppy waves in a high powered speed boat. Not a fun ride.2. Sydney was milk toast. She was a completely bland character that I didn't understand, like, relate to, or even want to spend time with.3. Outlandish plot lines - There are great works of fiction with completely implausible plot lines. This is not one of them. She ends up naked on the beach with the brother of the man who left her at the altar. Whatever!Rating - 1 out of 5 stars. Why did I read past the first chapter?
—Margaret
I wasn't expecting much from this book, and was pleasantly surprised during the first third. Anita Shreve writes with skill, although I could have done without quite as much description of what people are wearing - especially since they change their clothes at least twice a day. But she captures the scene of a WASPy New England family summering on the coast of New Hampshire perfectly.[return]But by the last third, I started wondering whether she knew quite where she was trying to go with the development of Sydney and the course of her life, and the end felt a bit loose.[return]I often find it difficult to enjoy books that are so focused on the emotions of their characters, because they seem somewhat false to me, but that is one problem I did not encounter here. Shreve nails the emotions in every situation, for every character, and it all feels just right. I didn't love the plot and felt the end was weak, but all the same this was an enjoyable read, and not as light as I had expected.
—Nicole
This is the first book I have read by Anita Shreve and I have to say I am very disappointed in this author. Some of the users of shelfari rated Shreve right up there with Jodi Picoult and that is why I borrowed this novel from a friend in the first place. Shreve doesn't compare at ALL to the likes of Picoult!! First of all ,the writing style in this novel is extremely choppy and distracting. Second, the characters are never fully explained and or developed. I never really felt any emotion from this author. I found it odd that she could be really descriptive about something but never fully explain what was going on. I felt like she was writing an essay and needed to meet a quota of "words used" instead of writing a well thought-out novel. In other words she had this annoying way of describing things using to many words but never really saying what needed to be said. It was tortuous to continue to read this novel but I didn't want to be a quitter so I continued. Don't bother with this book it was a complete waste of time! Not enjoyable at all! I really don't want to give up on this author but I just don't know if I can try again with one of her books!
—Jennefer
