Book Review-Newer Books 11

Review—Body Surfing

          Anita Shreve wrote Body Surfing. Little Brown and Company published the 295-page book in April 2007.

          The freedom of body surfing in the spirited waves off the New Hampshire coast is the setting in which Sydney finds herself. She is divorced and recently widowed and the time is for healing and decisions about the future. Sydney has recently been hired to tutor a teenager, Julie, to prepare for college exams. The family though not seeming to expect servitude does at times leave her in an isolated position within the household. That is until Julie’s older brothers arrive for summer. Two brothers, seemingly from a family less dysfunctional than some, soon become a part of Sydney’s world. Jeff is one who appears guileless and honest as a professor at MIT. Ben, rooted in the business world seems less so. After a night of body surfing these images are secured. Sydney falls in love with the brother she found as endearing as Julie’s father. Even though the family matriarch has issues with Sydney and she finds her less than she had hoped for, the relationship thrives. The future is planned and in a humiliating turn of events, she is again left floating adrift and alone. She isolates herself and looses touch with the family she once cared about. After time has passed, she learns the family has suffered during her time of renewal. Julie’s father ahs died and the family is as adrift as she has been. Truths come to the surface regarding the dysfunction of the man she loved and misconceptions regarding other family members. Once again enjoying the spirit of the waves, Sydney finds a new beginning again.

          This is the first adventure into the novels of this writer, and the reading was enjoyable, yet at times slow and often predictable. The characters were portrayed as human and just like the rest of the world, a bit flawed. Anita Shreve, writes with compassion to those flaws and is worth trying again.