Search - All He Ever Wanted

I'm a big fan of Anita Shreve's books, but for some reason this one didn't catch my fancy. I didn't get more than a chapter or two into it, though, so I may have missed out by not going further!

This is a unique tale with some very complex characters. As much as I wanted to feel sorry for the main character, I couldn't, because he knew what he was getting into when he married. The relationship between husband and wife was strange, and I always held out hope that something would happen to normalize it. At points the book became a little tedious, but all in all, it was memorable. This is definitely not a typical "happily ever after" book.

Etna Bliss has just moved to the New England town where her uncle teaches college when her life is transformed in a single stroke. She is dining in a hotel downtown when a fire forces her to escape to the snowy streets outside. She is glimpsed standing under a streetlight, by a man who was dining in the same room... a man who is so overwhelmed by the sight of her that he rebuilds his life around a single goal: to marry Etna Bliss. The man is Nicholas Van Tassel, and this is his account of how two lives were changed from that tumultuous night forward. It is a story of love, jealousy, obsession and loss. But it is no ordinary tale of obsession... it is a story about different kinds of love, and different ideas of what love is.

This is another well-written novel by Anita Shreve, with great character development. This would make a great book for a reading group discussion!

This was not my favorite Anita Shreve book. It was dark and disturbing and although it may have been common behavior for men of that period, it made me happy to be alive now.

This book left a bitter taste in my mouth after reading.... Maybe the intention by one of my favorite authors? Although there usually is heartbreak and hardship associated with most the characters in her novels, the main character in this book is ridiculous, ugly and just plain depressing. Can someone like this really exist? Even in those times? I can't imagine anyone being that stupid. Anyway, not worth reading. Sorry I used a good credit in requesting this book.

I was honestly bored, I finished the book I liked the way it was written and the idea behind the way it was written the book however...was boring. :(