Colony is another tightly crafted novel by the inimitable Anne Rivers Siddons, whose intimate narrative shines through in this expose on summer life in an insular, cloistered colony on the untamed coast of Maine. Maude Gascoigne is nineteen and fresh from the outskirts of Charleston, South Carolina when her new husband, Peter Chambliss, takes her home for the summer to his family's vacation cottage in an exclusive enclave populated by the East Coast privileged. It is here she goes toe to toe with her indomitable Chambliss mother in law, who is an implacable keeper of tradition and fiercely protective of her only son. There are tacit rules of decorum in Retreat; it is a place that holds fast to understated social mores that disapprove of anything beyond the standard set and adhered to from previous generations. In this monochromatic, yacht club society of starched linen and screened porches by the sea, a hierarchy of tenure exists amongst the old families' women: they are supercilious and set in their ways; they rule the roost from sea-side rocking chairs and know everyone in Retreat's business, while they cater to their men and uphold with steel spines the rhythm of colony life. Colony is a generational saga of players who return year after year to a setting that aspires to remain unchanged. The reader rides the coattails of Maude Chambliss as she finds her footing in Retreat and grows into a woman who is chatelaine of her own branch of the Chambliss family, much to her mother in law's chagrin. But time and tide ebbs and flows and much is mellowed through the passing years by births and the raising of children, deaths and the keeping of secrets within the confines of this unchangeable sequestration by the sea. The closer Maude comes to evolving into doyenne of Retreat, the more she realizes that her love for the area has its own tenacious version of loyalty, and one she plots to pass down to her unwilling grand daughter, whose past is damaged and riddled by her own connections with Retreat. Populated with characters as salty and constant as the sea, Colony is a roaring, undulating tide with an undercurrent of cause and effect set unwittingly in motion by players who revere discretion before confession. Its voice is searching and nostalgic, and its theme answers the question of what ends one will go to for love.
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.Spellbinding - long but so good
What do You think about Colony (2002)?
I have to be in the mood for a Rivers-Siddons book and can't read two in a row. Her writing is so dense it cannot be read quickly. The plot of the story becomes hidden in the rich descriptions. But, when I am in the mood, I love it. I can actually go to "Retreat" colony in my mind now, thanks to her - and it is a place of sanctuary.The beginning of this 600 page book is hard to get into at first. The beginning doesn't even particularly make sense (and can't, really. Siddons is doing this on purpose.) I had to go back partway through the book and read the start again and then the lightbulb came on. While most of the characters are disturbingly flawed, there is still a lot of hope shining in Maude, the main character. She keeps me reading on. I find that life - and especially people - can be greatly disappointing, but she gives a vantage point that helped me see how to survive (and thrive) through those times, those people.
—Karen
I read this book while on vacation in Northern Michigan at my husband's family cottage on a small lake. His mother and grandmother were there for most of our vacations there and Colony immediately struck a nerve with me. Like Maude I often felt that I loved that cottage and it's history even more than my husband, who grew up there. The bonding with her mother-in-law and the other Retreat people, learning of tradition and love affair with the whole place helped me come to terms with my role as a person married into that whole experience. The climax was so shocking to me that I remember slamming the book shut and not wanting to finish it. But Anne Rivers Siddons always pulls me back to her rich characters and "real" relationships. This was my first Anne Rivers Siddons book, and I have read everything she's written since then.
—Chris
All I've heard about this book is that it is Siddons' best book. I would still give that honor to Hill Towns, but this deserves all of these 4 stars. It's a love story that progresses over many decades while the main characters marry and try to raise a family, each summer being spent in the colony, a town in Maine aptly named Retreat. Retreat soothes those who come, but also has the gossipy old bitties found in most small towns. After a while the characters have endured such tragedies in their lives, it really seemed like Peyton Place for a while and I'm glad that was only temporary. Siddon's characters are described and developed so well, and as always you can picture everyone and everything like a movie playing in your head. I highly recommend.
—☮Karen
