Helpful Score: 23
Excellent book. One of the few books I could not put down. The characters are well developed and the story comes together so well. I highly recommend this.
Helpful Score: 20
It was a beautiful book, and a terriffic summer read a few years back. Every time I hold it, it takes me back to laying on the beach and hunting for my own sea glass.
Helpful Score: 20
I was impressed with the imagery in this book. The characters came together very well. The story was good and had a surprise ending...not at all what was expected. The best way to describe it is "pleasant". Good story.
Good Read,Very descriptive. A must read if the depression era intrests you.
Helpful Score: 18
What a great read. I had a little trouble ge4tting into the book but when the worlds started to collide I finally got it. A few different lifestyles clash and come together during the Depression and the fall of the stock market. Some lose everything and others never really had anything to begin with.
Honora has just married Sexton Beecher and now this. They have biought a house that ia bout to repossessed because of the bank failures. Sexton must take a job at the mills and this is where things get interesting. Sexton brings home folks for a strike and it turns out Honora knows one of the men. McDermott, she has given him a ride before. He is very smitten with her. They kiss and so on it goes.
Honora has just married Sexton Beecher and now this. They have biought a house that ia bout to repossessed because of the bank failures. Sexton must take a job at the mills and this is where things get interesting. Sexton brings home folks for a strike and it turns out Honora knows one of the men. McDermott, she has given him a ride before. He is very smitten with her. They kiss and so on it goes.
Helpful Score: 17
Really a great story. i collect sea glass and the title cought my attention. I felt a part of the story from the very beginning. I loved the descriptive writing and could almost smell the ocean.
Helpful Score: 13
This is a great quick weekend read.
Helpful Score: 12
Wounderful book, the kind you hate to see end.
Helpful Score: 12
A nice, quick, enjoyable read for a lazy weekend afternoon.
Really liked it. Liked the historical setting.
Helpful Score: 9
I liked this book a lot - the ending was a surprise and I couldn't put the book down!
Helpful Score: 7
This is the last of the trilogy which included "The Pilots Wife" and "Fortune's Rocks". The setting of this trilogy is a house along the coast of Maine.
Helpful Score: 7
4 stars.......the story of young newlyweds on the coast of Maine, struggling with the 1929 stock crash and an impending strike at the local mill. Great read!
Helpful Score: 6
I enjoyed this book, my only book I have read by this author. Had heard her speak live at a event hosted by specialty book store and enjoyed hearing her talk about having written this book.
Helpful Score: 6
This is a story that takes place in New England in the late 1920's. Honora and Sexton are newlyweds that are suffering from troubled times.
Helpful Score: 6
I loved the development of the characters as well as the historical references. Very good read!
Helpful Score: 6
Interesting story about the late 1920s in and around a mill town. The story is told from multiple points of view. The chapters are short, so it is great if you can't read long stretches at a time. (I read a chapter or two during my toddler's bath time.)
Helpful Score: 5
This is one of my favorite Anita Shreve books. I collect sea glass (I call it beach glass) and I was taken in with with her characters and descriptions. I cared deeply as Honora worked through her problems by searching the beach for sea glass, that perfect piece. I even checked mine to see if I had any reds, lol. I highly recommend this one. The characters are well done and her descriptions are well done, you'll feel you are right there, smelling the ocean and feeling their emotions.
Helpful Score: 5
Excellent story about a man and woman who marry during the depression years and how they handle the stresses of the times together. It falls into both romance and historical fiction with wonderful accounts of the Textile Mill Strikes when labor unions fought to get decent pay for their workers.
Written with wonderful technique and prose. I highly recommend!
Written with wonderful technique and prose. I highly recommend!
Helpful Score: 4
it is the small details that make her books so great to read.
Helpful Score: 4
I think this is one of Shreve's best books. The main character, Honora, is so likable...and the boy Alphonse, whom she bonds with, helps develop this story even more. I highly recommend it! -Mirah W.
Helpful Score: 4
Great book! I read it in one day!
Helpful Score: 4
A lovely story! It is emotional, historical, very well written! It is a tale of the Great Depression...It is amazing to me how this tale relates to today's world (I am writing this review shortly after the election of Barack Obama... in the time of what could end up being the next great depression...quite frankly, I'm depressed already!).
All political jargon aside, this book is a step into the world that shaped the lives of my parents. Shreve's novels encompass and transcend eras in time without the limitations of historical novels.
Read it, and then go for a walk on the beach...look for that sea glass and pick up the pieces!
All political jargon aside, this book is a step into the world that shaped the lives of my parents. Shreve's novels encompass and transcend eras in time without the limitations of historical novels.
Read it, and then go for a walk on the beach...look for that sea glass and pick up the pieces!
Helpful Score: 3
A great read - I couldn't put it down!
This book is about life in the 1920's during the time of the Great Depression for a group of young people. The main character Honora marries Sexton, a typewriter salesman, and together they quickly purchase a beach home that has fallen into disrepair. The Great Depression hits, and mill workers go on strike, changing the course of Honora and Sexton's lives. The story is tragic and I didn't care for the ending. This book is not for those who like a "happily ever after" ending and having all the loose ends tied up. Overall I'd say it was an OK read but definitely not one of the best or most interesting books I've ever read.
Helpful Score: 3
Young newlyweds starting out their lives together in a derelict beach house on the New England Coast. They encounter the crash of the 1929 stock market and millworkers trying to form a union.
Helpful Score: 3
I don't know if this is the *point* of Shreve's books, but I end up dissatisfied in the end, and this book is no exception. It is not that I expect everything to be neatly tied up at the end, or for everyone to live happily ever after. While Shreve's actual writing is beautiful and does carry you along, I almost felt like I hadn't even read a book when I finished Sea Glass, if that makes any sense. Fans of Shreve will likely enjoy this book.
Helpful Score: 3
I loved this book so much, Shreve is an amazing author!
Helpful Score: 3
This tale is a richly engaging tale of marriage,money,and troubled times . It take splace on the New England coast with a newly weed couple who buy a old beach house.Very Colorful story telling ,satistying and entertaining.
Helpful Score: 2
A pair of newlyweds discover how threatening the world outside their door can be at their old beach house on the Atlantic coast.
Helpful Score: 2
I am always awed by her writing. Excellent novel-very unepected twiat at the end. A MUST READ
Helpful Score: 2
Anita Shreve never ceases to amaze me. This book tells the story of multiple characters, weaving them in and out of each other's lives during a crucible in time -- The Great Depression. They come from very different and disparate places in time, life and society and yet are drawn together in a tapestry of emotions and needs created by that singular period in history. This is a story of loss, on so many different levels, and the circumstances and opportunities life creates when we least expect it. A stunning read, Shreve leaves no detail undiscovered, yet manages to avoid belaboring the book with too much background noise. Read this book, whether you already are a Shreve fan or if you just want a great book to read.
Helpful Score: 2
I enjoyed this book. I usually don't like historical fiction but I found this interesting and well-written. The characters are all very enjoyable as well.
Helpful Score: 2
From its opening pages, Anita Shreve's Sea Glass surrounds the reader in the surprisingly rich feeling of the New Hampshire coast in winter. Vividly evoking the life of the coastal community at the beginning of the Great Depression, Sea Glass shifts through the multiple points of view of six principal characters; it's a skillfully created story of braided lives that bounces easily (even inevitably) from character to character. We learn how these lives come together following the stock market crash of 1929 and about the struggles of mill workers on the starkly beautiful New Hampshire coast during the following year. At the novel's center is the story of Honora Beecher, a young newlywed who compulsively collects sea glass along the beach as she collects unexpected friendship in her new beachside community, and Francis, a boy who discovers a father figure in the towering character of McDermott, an Irish mill worker, at a time when he most needs direction. Each character finds unexpected new purpose beyond the struggle to survive during that turbulent year among the dunes. First their lives barely touch, then they intersect, and finally they become inextricably bound. By the powerful and unexpected final scenes of the story, every point of view, every brilliant shard of life depends deeply on all the others. It is a very satisfying read--confidently told and deeply felt--with as many subtle colors and reflections as the sea glass that permeates the narrative. --Paul Ford --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Helpful Score: 1
A story about how much we know--or don't know--important people in our lives.
Helpful Score: 1
Very good book.
Helpful Score: 1
I went through a phase where I read many of Anita Shreve's books. She portrays emotion very well. I enjoyed that and this one was no exception.
Helpful Score: 1
It took awhile to get into it. The characters were a little confusing keeping them straight until, in about the middle, they started coming together. The story was pretty good, but kind of drawn out.
Helpful Score: 1
A young couple marries after a brief courtship, on the eve of the Great Depression. They struggle to build a life and relationship, and to renovate an old oceanfront house. Nice symbolic use of the sea glass throughout the book.
Helpful Score: 1
good book
Helpful Score: 1
Sea Glass is an unforgettable story of trust and betrayal, marriage and attraction, from oneo f the most persuasive, farseeing, and deeply engaging writers of our time.
A good read, the ending is sad.
A good read, the ending is sad.
Helpful Score: 1
Starts out a little confusing getting to know all the characters. But gets sooo good. A must read/listen to book!
Helpful Score: 1
I liked the Pilot's Wife, but this one really fell short of my expectations.
This book is as wonderful as the other Shreve books.
A wonderful book, couldn't put it down. Interesting way of writing. I really hated to see this book end.
I have never read a book written in the way this author has written before. I really liked the way she writes. Each chapter is more of a story in it's self. I cannot wait to go find some sea glass of my own.
Interesting reading of young newly married couple near the stock market crash of the late 20's others they meet on the road of life. Same author as The Pilot's Wife.
Great look into marriage in difficult times...a fast paced read.
One of Shreve's best...
Fascinating plot set in the mill strikes and the depression. Characters are interesting and believable. Another great read from Shreve.
Another hit by Shreve. I highly recommend this one.
this is a great read!!!!!!!!
not my favorite Anita Shrieve book although many of my friends at work enjoyed it
An excellent Anita Shreve story!
I like anything by Anita Shreve. I really enjoyed several things about this book: 1 - it takes place in New England (I live in NE) 2 - it takes place in 1929 which is an era I find very interesting 3- the story is told from different points of view. And of course, her writing is just beautiful.
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
From its opening pages, Anita Shreve's Sea Glass surrounds the reader in the surprisingly rich feeling of the New Hampshire coast in winter. Vividly evoking the life of the coastal community at the beginning of the Great Depression, Sea Glass shifts through the multiple points of view of six principal characters; it's a skillfully created story of braided lives that bounces easily (even inevitably) from character to character. We learn how these lives come together following the stock market crash of 1929 and about the struggles of mill workers on the starkly beautiful New Hampshire coast during the following year. At the novel's center is the story of Honora Beecher, a young newlywed who compulsively collects sea glass along the beach as she collects unexpected friendship in her new beachside community, and Francis, a boy who discovers a father figure in the towering character of McDermott, an Irish mill worker, at a time when he most needs direction. Each character finds unexpected new purpose beyond the struggle to survive during that turbulent year among the dunes. First their lives barely touch, then they intersect, and finally they become inextricably bound. By the powerful and unexpected final scenes of the story, every point of view, every brilliant shard of life depends deeply on all the others. It is a very satisfying read--confidently told and deeply felt--with as many subtle colors and reflections as the sea glass that permeates the narrative. --Paul Ford --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
In addition to spinning one of her most absorbing narratives, Shreve here rewards readers with the third volume in a trilogy set in the large house on the New Hampshire coast that figured in The Pilot's Wife and Fortune's Rocks. This time the inhabitants are a newly married couple, Sexton and Honora Beecher, both of humble origins, who rent the now derelict house. In a burst of overconfidence, slick typewriter salesman Sexton lies about his finances and arranges a loan to buy the property. When the 1929 stock market crash occurs soon afterward, Sexton loses his job and finds menial work in the nearby mills. There, he joins a group of desperate mill hands who have endured draconian working conditions for years, and now, facing extortionate production quotas and reduced pay, want to form a union. The lives of the Beechers become entwined with the strikers, particularly a principled 20-year-old loom fixer named McDermott and Francis, the 11-year-old fatherless boy he takes under his wing. A fifth major character is spoiled, dissolute socialite Vivian Burton, who is transformed by her friendship with Honora. As Honora becomes aware that Sexton is untrustworthy, she is drawn to McDermott, who tries to hide his love for her. The plot moves forward via kaleidoscopic vignettes from each character's point of view, building emotional tension until the violent, rather melodramatic climax when the mill owners' minions confront the strikers. Shreve is skilled at interpolating historical background, and her descriptions of the different social strata the millworkers, the lower-middle-class Sextons, the idle rich enhance a touching story about loyalty and betrayal, responsibility and dishonor. This is one of Shreve's best, likely to win her a wider audience. 6-city author tour. (Apr. 9) Forecast: Expectations of brisk sales, indicated by the one-day laydown, will likely be achieved. Readers should find timely resonance in the setting of 1920s economic turbulence.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Amazon.com Review
From its opening pages, Anita Shreve's Sea Glass surrounds the reader in the surprisingly rich feeling of the New Hampshire coast in winter. Vividly evoking the life of the coastal community at the beginning of the Great Depression, Sea Glass shifts through the multiple points of view of six principal characters; it's a skillfully created story of braided lives that bounces easily (even inevitably) from character to character. We learn how these lives come together following the stock market crash of 1929 and about the struggles of mill workers on the starkly beautiful New Hampshire coast during the following year. At the novel's center is the story of Honora Beecher, a young newlywed who compulsively collects sea glass along the beach as she collects unexpected friendship in her new beachside community, and Francis, a boy who discovers a father figure in the towering character of McDermott, an Irish mill worker, at a time when he most needs direction. Each character finds unexpected new purpose beyond the struggle to survive during that turbulent year among the dunes. First their lives barely touch, then they intersect, and finally they become inextricably bound. By the powerful and unexpected final scenes of the story, every point of view, every brilliant shard of life depends deeply on all the others. It is a very satisfying read--confidently told and deeply felt--with as many subtle colors and reflections as the sea glass that permeates the narrative. --Paul Ford --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
In addition to spinning one of her most absorbing narratives, Shreve here rewards readers with the third volume in a trilogy set in the large house on the New Hampshire coast that figured in The Pilot's Wife and Fortune's Rocks. This time the inhabitants are a newly married couple, Sexton and Honora Beecher, both of humble origins, who rent the now derelict house. In a burst of overconfidence, slick typewriter salesman Sexton lies about his finances and arranges a loan to buy the property. When the 1929 stock market crash occurs soon afterward, Sexton loses his job and finds menial work in the nearby mills. There, he joins a group of desperate mill hands who have endured draconian working conditions for years, and now, facing extortionate production quotas and reduced pay, want to form a union. The lives of the Beechers become entwined with the strikers, particularly a principled 20-year-old loom fixer named McDermott and Francis, the 11-year-old fatherless boy he takes under his wing. A fifth major character is spoiled, dissolute socialite Vivian Burton, who is transformed by her friendship with Honora. As Honora becomes aware that Sexton is untrustworthy, she is drawn to McDermott, who tries to hide his love for her. The plot moves forward via kaleidoscopic vignettes from each character's point of view, building emotional tension until the violent, rather melodramatic climax when the mill owners' minions confront the strikers. Shreve is skilled at interpolating historical background, and her descriptions of the different social strata the millworkers, the lower-middle-class Sextons, the idle rich enhance a touching story about loyalty and betrayal, responsibility and dishonor. This is one of Shreve's best, likely to win her a wider audience. 6-city author tour. (Apr. 9) Forecast: Expectations of brisk sales, indicated by the one-day laydown, will likely be achieved. Readers should find timely resonance in the setting of 1920s economic turbulence.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
good story, timely subplots. The main characters are developed well, the secondary characters, not so well ..... however it didn't take away from the overall storyline. Especially interesting were the short letters from Honora's mother, giving advice on how to conserve, make-do, "re-cycle", and maintain a household in the midst of the great depression. I know she doesn't do sequels, but I would have liked to have known how the rest of Honora's life turned out.
It is a house on the beach that Honora doesn't mind renting. Despite its age and all its flaws, the old house is the perfect place to start off a new marriage. She and her husband, Sexton, throw themselves into fixing it up, just as they throw themselves into their new life together. While Honora fixes up the derelict house and searches for sea glass on the beach, Sexton risks everything they have to buy the house they both love.
Along with the entire population of America, Sexton is blindsided by the stock market crash of 1929 and finds himself penniless. The only work that he is able to find is in the local mill, where a labor dispute is erupting into violence. As their financial pressures continue to mount, Honora begins to see how little she actually knows about this man that she has married.
I think this was a wonderful book - I really found myself caring about the characters, and the plot was very believable to me. I give this book an A+! and will keep it for a while to reread at some point.
Along with the entire population of America, Sexton is blindsided by the stock market crash of 1929 and finds himself penniless. The only work that he is able to find is in the local mill, where a labor dispute is erupting into violence. As their financial pressures continue to mount, Honora begins to see how little she actually knows about this man that she has married.
I think this was a wonderful book - I really found myself caring about the characters, and the plot was very believable to me. I give this book an A+! and will keep it for a while to reread at some point.
I have read several of Anita Shree's books and like some of them very much. However, my sister read this one and wasn't impressed it it, so I decided to go on ot meatier books.
A great read about real people...some history...their losses and their gains of love and friendship.
Lovely book that you will want to read twice... I did!
A little on the sad side, but a good insight into the Depression era.
This is a really beautiful story that takes place in 1929-1930 in a New England mill town and the nearby seashore. A young married couple suffers during the Depression, as do most people, and gets involved in the rise of labor unions. Anita Shreve works her magic with wonderful interesting characters and thoroughly evokes the feeling of time and place. I enjoyed that the story was told from shifting viewpoints.
LOVED this book as I love all Anita Shreve's novels. I've read several of her books but did not realize until I read this one that many of her books (including this one) are set in the same house (including Pilot's Wife) but at different time periods.
With all the narrative power and emotional immediacy that have made her novels acclaimed international bestsellers, Anita Shreve unfolds a richly engaging tale of marriage, money, and trouble times-- the story of a pair of young newlyweds who, setting out to build a life together in a derelict beach house on the Atlantic coast, soon discover how threatening the world outside their front door can be.
This is the first book I've read by this author. Very good story, beautifully descriptive writing. Will try more of her books.
good one but i always love anita shreve
It is New Hampshire,1929, just before the Wall St. crash. A new marriage, and how the grow through these hard times makes for a beautiful emotional read.
Enjoyed the time period book took place - predepression and depression era; characters are real and believable in realistic situations.
Newlyweds starting their life together in a derilict beach house. Story of marriage, money and troubled times.
A good read from the author of "The Pilot's Wife". Young newlyweds starting out their life together in a derelict beach house on the New England coast soon discover how threatening the world around them can be. This richly engaging tale of marriage, money, and troubled times unfolds with all the narrative power and emotional immediacy that have made Anita Shreve's novels such beloved bestsellers.
A sweet story....and a worthwhile read.
Wonderful story
I really enjoyed this one. Tied into "Fortune's Rock", another really good Anita Shreve book. You're right, it makes you want to collect sea glass!
This is one of Shreve's best books. I could not put it down once I started it.
Great Story, set in the 1920's. If you have read Fortune's Rock you might recognize the location :)
A great read.
very good read.
I enjyed this book except for the occasional 4 letter word that I tried to skim over quickly...
Young newlyweds starting out their lives together in a derelict beach house on the New England coast soon discover how threatening the world around them can be. This richly engaging tale of marriage, money and troubled times unfolds with all the narrative power and emotional immediacy that has made Anita Shreve's novels such as The Pilots Wife, The Last Time The Met, and All He Ever Wanted such beloved bestsellers
Young newlyweds starting out their lives together in a derelict beach house on the New England coast soon discover how threatening the world around them can be. This richly engaging tale of marriage, money and troubled times unfolds with all the narrative power and emotional immediacy that has made Anita Shreve's novels such as The Pilots Wife, The Last Time The Met, and All He Ever Wanted such beloved bestsellers
Another winner by Anita Shreve. Perfect beach read.
Lots of descriptive language.
A story of two newlyweds who set out to build a life together in a decaying beach house on the coast of the Atlantic, they soon discover the threats that lay outside their front door.
I'm not a real fan of Anita Shreve, but I really liked this book.
YOUNG NEWLYWEDS STARTING OUT THEIR LIFE TOGETHER IN A DERELICT BEACH HOUSE ON NEW ENGLAND COAST SOON DISCOVER HOW THREATENING THE WORLD AROUND THEM CAN BE
A richly tale of marriage, money and troubled times- the story of a pair of young newlyweds who, setting out yo build a life together in a beach house on the Atlantic coast soon discover how threatening the world outside their front door can be.
Since reading The Pilot's Wife, Anita Shreve is one of my favorite authors. Her stories are magnificent. A great read from cover to cover. I have not been disappointed.
Young newlyweds starting out their life together in a derelict beach house on the New England coast soon discover how threatening the world around them can be.
I am loving this book! I didn't know that Shreve wrote three books all set in the same house. I loved The Pilot's Wife, which was her third book in the "trilogy," and this is the second book. Her character development and plot line are impeccable. You do not have to have read the others to enjoy this one.
I have read a few of Shreve's, this was decent. I didn't love it, didn't hate it. Liked it enough to stay with it through the end.
If you like anita shreve you will like this book
Honora loves the run-down beach house she and her new husband rent and fix up. Then Sexton buys the house-at the wrong time, as the economy plunges. As the pressure mounts, Honora realizes she doesn't know her new husband as well as she thought.
Anita Shreve is okay.
Very enjoyable reading.
With all the narrative power and emotional immediacy that have made her novels acclaimed international bestsellers, Anita Shreve unfolds a richly engaging tale of marriage, money and troubled times - the story of a pair of young newlyweds who, setting out to build a life together in a derelict beach house on the Atlantic coast soon discover how threatening the world outside their front door can be. Gripping and difficult to put down.
Nice first-edition HB copy of this Anita Shreve
With all the narrative power and emotional immediacy that have made her novels acclaimed international bestsellers, Anita Shreve unfolds a richly engaging tale of marriage, money, and troubled times-the story of a pair of young newlyweds who, setting out to build a life together in a derelict beach house on the Atlantic coast, soon discover how threatening the world outside their front door can be.
Bonus Reading Group guide Inside this Version.
Excellent Story.
Excellent Story.
back cover: "With all the narrative power and emotional immediacy that have made her novels acclaimed international bestsellers, Anita Shreve unfolds a richly engaging tale of marriage, money, and troubled times-the story of a pair of newlyweds who, setting out to build a life together in a derelict beach house on the Atlantic coast, soon discover how threatening the world outside their front door can be."
WITH ALL THE POWER OF EMOTIONAL IMMEDIANCY THAT HAVE MDE HER NOVELS ACCLAIMED INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERS, ANITA SHREVE UNFOLDS A RICHLY ENGAGING TALE OF MARRIAGE, MONEY AND TROUBLED TIMES-THE STORY OF A PAIR OF YOUNG NEWLYWEDS WHO, SETTING OUT TO BUILD A LIFE TOGETHER IN A DERELICT BEACH HOUSE ON THE ATLANTIC COAST, SOON DISCOVER HOW THREATENING THE WORLD OUTSIDE THEIR FRONT DOOR CAN BE.
