Sea Glass

It's 1929 in a beachside community in New Hampshire. Honora Beecher, newly wed, collects bits of ocean-tumbled glass as her marriage falters and she and her husband become involved in a nearby milltown strike. The tale is told in segments bearing the names of five people whose interaction pushes the plot to its tragic climax and ultimate resolution. Kyra Sedgwick reads with warmth and empathy; the developing relationships between Honora, a millworker activist, and a fatherless boy are well handled, as is her take on Vivian, the likable playgirl socialite. Shards of music pop up but don't add much. The recording includes an introduction by the author, explaining why she has set three novels in the same house. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

Starred review from February 11, 2002
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.

SEA GLASS establishes a strong metaphor and keeps it going, with varying degrees of success. Newlywed Honora develops an interest in the colorful glass bits she finds on the beach, attracted by the color, depth and texture of what her husband Sexton calls "trash." But these thrown-away fragments have been made beautiful by the beatings they have taken and are too strong to break. Judith Ann Gantly gives a near perfect reading of a novel that is strongest when moving confidently forward as a piece of historical fiction and not languishing in the longings of romance. The tension of labor issues and the desperation brought about by the Depression make the story riveting, with the only flaws the lapses into melodrama as Sexton transforms into a neglectful husband and the upstart McDermott moves onto the scene. L.B.F. 2003 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

December 1, 2001
Newlyweds Sexton and Honora Beecher have plenty of dreams, but they didn't plan on the stock market crash of 1929.

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.