The House on Oyster Creek

April 26, 2010
Locals and summer people face off on Cape Cod in Schmidt’s atmospheric romance. As soon as New Yorkers Henry and Charlotte Tradescome inherit Henry’s ancestral estate in Wellfleet, Mass., the much younger Charlotte, wanting a different life for their young daughter, persuades her curmudgeonly husband to move into the house and renovate it with the proceeds from selling off a piece of the property. Charlotte finds it tough to connect with the year-round residents, but she does find an ally in Darryl Stead, an oysterman who farms the waters on the property adjoining the Tradescome house. Through helping Darryl tend his oysters, she falls more in love with the locals’ down-to-earth way of life—and a little in love with Darryl himself. But the yuppie couple who bought the neighboring land from the Tradescomes are less charmed, and a drawn-out legal battle ensues as they attempt to evict the oyster farms along the point. Schmidt (The Bride of Catastrophe) brings the coastal town and its sometimes crusty inhabitants to briny life, and, thankfully, offers a story that’s larger and more satisfying than a simple romance.

May 15, 2010
An only child with physical limitations, Henry Tradescome has always disliked his family summer home in Wellfleet, MA. But Henry's wife, Charlotte, is thrilled to raise their four-year-old daughter in the house he's just inherited. Founder/editor of an alternative New York newspaper, Henry is 20 years Charlotte's senior. She's never felt she was Henry's intellectual equal, but now, at 42, Charlotte accepts that it's long past time she stopped caring. The Tradescomes move to the Cape, where Charlotte runs afoul of the longtime residents, including the farmers who work the oyster claims along the beach. A "washashore," Charlotte is only slightly less despised than the tourists. Still, she discovers an inner strength and confidence, especially in the company of Darryl Stead, whose claim is behind her house. When Charlotte sells off part of the land to ensure her family's future, the repercussions serve only to illuminate her navet. VERDICT Schmidt ("The Bride of Catastrophe") conveys the unassailable bond of tradition in a tightly knit community along with the ins and outs of oyster culture. Her writing is nuanced and oh so clever as it relays her characters' persistence in the face of life's obstacles. Superior literary fiction. [Reading group guide.]Bette-Lee Fox, "Library Journal"

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