Search - Strange Fits of Passion

I've read a few Shreve novels, the first being The Pilot's wife, which was wonderful. I read a couple of others they were just "okay", but this is definitely a good one. It's pretty hard to read in places, it is about domestic abuse, but it also makes you ask yourself some tough questions - at least it did me. There are so many layers to life and to the choices we make - AND to the consequences of those choices. This is a very well written novel. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I was there, I was THERE. In the end, my heart ached mostly for Emily. For the unanswered question in her life, for everything she had been through. Interesting that she was such a small character, but was the one that left me with the most thoughts.

Great read, different because each chapter is from a different character's point of view. I had to check to see that it was a fiction book because it read as a reporter gathering facts about the case.

Couldn't put this book down. Loved it. Great story with message that makes you think what you would do in that situation.

I'm not sure how this ended up being the last Anita Shreve book for me to read, but it was worth the wait. This is a very painful story, but I think it is her best (I would have said Change of Altitude before this one). As horrible as the abuse was that the main character suffered, it paled in comparison to the blow she received from the media. In the world we live in we are guilty until proven innocent and if guilt makes a better story than innocence...you know the outcome.

A lone woman and her infant, running away from an abusive marriage; a wintry ocean house that beckons you to stay safe and comfortable within its walls; women who reach out to you and gift you with thier friendship; a man who offers love and safety; a murder, a suicide and you have all the makings for a great story! It touched all bases with me!

This was an interesting book...Anita Shreve weaves a tale of cruelty and abuse, love lost and found. It is an educational book as well attesting to just how devastating domestic abuse can be. It is also, as the back cover says, "...a powerful portrait of truth and deception."