Fortune's Rocks - Anita Shreve

Set in 1899 Fortune's Rocks centres on Olympia Biddeford and a summer she spends at Fortune's Rocks when she is 15 on the brink of turning into a woman. At the beginning of the summer she is very much a girl still, but a crush on one of her father's friends, John Haskell, a man twice her age and the affair between Haskell and Olympia which then ensues ensures that by the end of the novel Olympia is very much a woman. A lot of moral issues are raised, not least the age difference between Haskell and Olympia and whether or not it is ever right for a man of 40 to pursue a teenage girl. To add to this Haskell is married with three children and in starting a ...  Read the complete review

Title; ‘Fortune’s Rocks’ Author; Anita Shreve Genre; Romance/period drama Price; £6.99 paperback **************************************************************************** I’ve never been a fan of romance novels. In fact, I have been known to become physically red faced in embarrassment merely by standing in the same named section of the library. It’s a literary genre that has been thought of , perhaps somewhat unfairly, as the flighty, ‘women’s only’ kind of literature. Why then, if I so clearly agree with this notion, read Anita Shreve’s unashamedly romantic ‘Fortune’s Rocks’? Simple really…my favourite aunt ...  Read the complete review

For my birthday earlier this year I was lucky enough to receive a handful of book tokens. This, to me, is bliss. To be able to stand in a bookshop, browsing, with the knowledge that I can (and will) leave with a stack of books thrills me. I love reading. I love escaping to a land that may or may not be completely different from my own, to become involved in strangers' highs, lows, loves and losses, from the comfort of my bed. Or bath. Or sofa. Or anywhere really! But I digress. Back to my birthday, standing in Waterstones, rubbing my hands in glee at their well-timed 'buy two, get one free' offer. It was the cover of 'Fortune's Rocks' ...  Read the complete review

This book was one of many I read recently on my holiday so I thought I would write a review on it. Anita Shreve a former school teacher is an American author and has written several books including The Pilots wife, Resistance, Strange Fits of Passion and Eden Close. Most of her novels are set in America and usually centre around a main female character. Some of her novels including Fortunes Rocks are set in the past and Anita Shreve goes to considerable lengths to ensure they tie in accurately with the history of that time. She has a very descriptive style of writing, setting the scene so clearly that the reader really feels they are there with the ...  Read the complete review