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259th out of 492 books
—
643 voters
Strange Fits of Passion
by
Anita Shreve
A labyrinthine tale of truth and deception from acclaimed novelist Anita Shreve Everyone believes that Maureen and Harrold English, two successful New York City journalists, have a happy, stable marriage. It's the early '70s and no one discusses or even suspects domestic abuse. But after Maureen suffers another brutal beating, she flees with her infant daughter to a coas...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
October 4th 2005
by Mariner Books
(first published January 2nd 1985)
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Sep 25, 2007
Paul
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
historians of domestic violence
Shelves:
i-don-t-know-why-i-read-this,
novels
The story of the dreadful marriage is presented twice - first by the escaping wife and then by the reporter who wrote the ensuing glossy magazine article. These two versions are presented to the daughter of the wife 20 years later, and the whole idea - I think - is to show how our views about this nasty subject have changed, and how repulsive the attitudes of the early 1970s were towards women in this situation.
That's not a bad idea for a novel, but Anita Shreve spends such a lot of time paint...more
That's not a bad idea for a novel, but Anita Shreve spends such a lot of time paint...more
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Maureen and Harrold English are the perfect couple, successful journalists and happily married. At least that's what it look like to everyone on the outside, so when Maureen murders harrold, everyone wants to know the real story. Another woman journalist, hoping to get the real story and maybe a book deal out of it, decides to tell Maureen's story. Did Harrold really abuse Maureen or is it just a story to hide an affair? The real story is told in Maureen's letters and interviews with colleagues...more
Maureen English is a 26 year old up and coming reporter who becomes involved with a fellow reporter. Their relationship is never a healthy one, based as it is on drinking, sex and secrets. But she marries him and spends two years getting beaten by him before she takes her infant daughter and runs. She takes on a new name and identity as Mary Amesbury. If Mary's husband is boxing her in, Anita Shreve is certainly boxing us readers in as well. I sympathized with Mary but I didn't see her making ch...more
I really liked this book and found it quite difficult to put down.
The protaganist, Mary, is a 26 year old woman who flees her abusive husband with her baby in the early hours of the morning, after a particularly brutal bashing. She ends up in a small town in Maine where for a while at least she has a "normal" life. The book is told through the POV of the protaganist, a journalist and other people in the town.
The writing is raw and powerful, and the abuse in particular is harrowing.
I loved how th...more
The protaganist, Mary, is a 26 year old woman who flees her abusive husband with her baby in the early hours of the morning, after a particularly brutal bashing. She ends up in a small town in Maine where for a while at least she has a "normal" life. The book is told through the POV of the protaganist, a journalist and other people in the town.
The writing is raw and powerful, and the abuse in particular is harrowing.
I loved how th...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I really liked this book until just about the last chapter.
The ending ran like a term paper that had to be exactly so many words, and with the ends of the story snipped off and stuffed back into the seam, it barely made it, limping to the finish.
As a side note: Are there books written about spousal abuse where the wife picks up and flees to the city? Because I can't seem to find any....
The ending ran like a term paper that had to be exactly so many words, and with the ends of the story snipped off and stuffed back into the seam, it barely made it, limping to the finish.
As a side note: Are there books written about spousal abuse where the wife picks up and flees to the city? Because I can't seem to find any....
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Just as I have with most of her works, I flew right into the world of this story, away from the here – the very thing every novel hopes to accomplish. Her writing is the kind we fall asleep holding. The kind that has us bargaining with ourselves. "Just 10 more pages, then I’ll ..." Before we know it, 10 have turned to 20, 20 to 50, and 50 to the epilogue.
I can now proudly say I’ve read every book Anita Shreve has authored. Though first published 20 years ago, the style in Strange Fits of Passion...more
I can now proudly say I’ve read every book Anita Shreve has authored. Though first published 20 years ago, the style in Strange Fits of Passion...more
As you can tell, I'm a huge Anita Shreve fan. She is one of the most talented authors I've ever read and consistently enjoyed.
In Strange Fits of Passion, a woman flees an abusive relationship with her infant daughter in tow. The pair ends up in northern Maine but it's clear from the beginning that the estranged husband finds them and the conclusion is not pretty.
The format of this book made it very unique. The story unfolds through letters from the battered (now imprisoned) woman to a journali...more
In Strange Fits of Passion, a woman flees an abusive relationship with her infant daughter in tow. The pair ends up in northern Maine but it's clear from the beginning that the estranged husband finds them and the conclusion is not pretty.
The format of this book made it very unique. The story unfolds through letters from the battered (now imprisoned) woman to a journali...more
Years ago I read "The Pilot's Wife" by the same author and could...not...put....it...down! The same can be said for this book by Anita Shreve, "Strange Fits of Passion." Shreve has a way of tapping into women's heroic side as she does with the two characters of these novels. In the latter, the main character is an abused wife and mother of a new born baby. The story unfolds in a series of interview style dialogue but trust me, it's a fun to read, this style was not off putting in the least. She...more
This book was about truth. This book showed me how the truth can so easily be stretched or twisted to a version that is completly the opposite of what really happened. The "facts" can be presented 2 different ways, or by 2 different people, and have 2 different outcomes. This is nothing new, it happens all the time. Everyone can see things differently. It also shows how a person can intentionally relay the "facts" with a choice of words to influence, or proselytize to their own advantage. Journa...more
Anita Shreve is not my favorite--but I decided to give it another go. I really did enjoy this book. Each chapter is a different perspective based on notes from a journalist. The narrator is writing an article about an abused woman who tries to hide from her husband. Very compelling!
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Absolutely incredible story! I really loved it! I almost had to do a double-take to make sure it wasn't a true story because it seemed so real. The story was captivating and intense. It also had a bit of suspense thriller thrown in. It was realistic too and quite poignant. I also liked how there were different voices telling the story. Sometimes you just want to get mad at some of the characters because you want them to help or understand; you want to jump into the book and shake them and say: "...more
I'll read anything Anita Shreveport writes because she's just that good! Bought this book several years ago and only now had a chance to read it. The subject matter is intense - love and abuse. There was one particular phrase that I found both haunting and prescient. I'm paraphrasing here, so bear with me......." Once she started lying for him, she was a willing partner in her loss of control and complete surrender of her personhood. She existed only for him, and in the way that he wanted. Not i...more
AS I read Strange Fits of Passion, I fluctuated between understanding and not understanding the story process. I have never read Anita Shreve, but she came recommended. The story is of a woman who is abused by her husband in 1971 and left him with their infant daughter. She finds solice in Maine's quiet wintery atmosphere. A. Shreve writes the story in the form of letters from the "author" and the people involved in the incident of the island, even outsiders.
This story is very deep and emotiona...more
This story is very deep and emotiona...more
I'm a huge fan of Shreve, whose understated style always beautifully captures the inner lives of her characters. She perfectly describes the difficuties of matters of the heart in its many, many manifestations. This work is a novel within a novel, witten in "Rashomon"-like multiple voices. As a retired journalist, I like how well it captures the difficulty of telling the "truth" about a story and how the desire for Page 1 recognition often trumps one's ethics. The story involves domestic abuse a...more
As good as any other book on domestic abuse I have read. I like very much that the author touched on the themes of shifting attitudes and our cultural education from the 1970's through 1990 about violence in the home. Also, the point about how women in the abusive situation do not reach out because of isolation caused by the abuser, and their own shame about being beaten, feeling somehow as if they are complicit in the abuse.
The different voices used by the author serve very well to highlight t...more
The different voices used by the author serve very well to highlight t...more
Maureen (known as Mary) left New York City with her daughter to excape her abusive husband and ended up in Maine on the coast. She rented a house near a fishing village and fell in love with Jack, a fisherman with a sickly wife and 15 year old daughter. One night her husband found her and stabbed her with a fork and sexually abused her and then he went into a drunken stooper. She ran and got a gun off of Jack's fishing boat and came back and shot her husband twice. What became of Mary? Will she...more
Although at times a bit dark, this is a compelling story of a woman on the run from an abusive husband. The events that take place after she settles in a small town in Maine cause a domino effect on many families, and result in her ending up in prison. Very sad at times, but accurate from other works I have read as far as the lengths abusive spouses will go to try and drag a woman back home. This one was written in the mode of notes transcribed to an author by the woman after she lands in prison...more
Anita Shreve writes well and this book is one of her better ones.
She tells he story of a young wife who suffers abuse at he hands of her husband. She takes their baby and leaves New York for a small town in ME. The story is told by a writer who has written about what happens when Maureen English becomes Mary Amesbury in Maine. The narrator uses notes and letters that she collected for a book in the 60’s. Abuse was handled quite differently then. Women had no real protection by the law then. The...more
She tells he story of a young wife who suffers abuse at he hands of her husband. She takes their baby and leaves New York for a small town in ME. The story is told by a writer who has written about what happens when Maureen English becomes Mary Amesbury in Maine. The narrator uses notes and letters that she collected for a book in the 60’s. Abuse was handled quite differently then. Women had no real protection by the law then. The...more
A plausible story, seems to be in a different style to other Shreve books I've read.
There's tension throughout to the end, then disappointment as I'd forgotten a significant detail which is revealed at the beginning of the book. I wonder if this may have been deliberate as the penultimate section leaves you in suspense, feeling you already know part of the outcome but not all the details.
Have to add that anyone who calls a character Harrold is definitely not sympathetic to their character!
There's tension throughout to the end, then disappointment as I'd forgotten a significant detail which is revealed at the beginning of the book. I wonder if this may have been deliberate as the penultimate section leaves you in suspense, feeling you already know part of the outcome but not all the details.
Have to add that anyone who calls a character Harrold is definitely not sympathetic to their character!
I really enjoyed the story. When the book was given to me, I was afraid it would be too descriptive and it would be just on the edge of porn, but happily it wasn't. My one and only reason for withholding the last star was because I grew weary towards the end, reading about the same situation several times from different perspectives. It was fine at first, but it became just too repetitive. I think more new details in each retelling would have kept my interest up. I've already chosen another book...more
Actual Rating: 3.5
I really enjoyed this book and loved the way the story was told. The story starts with the journalist talking to Maureen's grown up daughter Caroline and then switches to the material that the journalist gives Caroline (interviews with Maureen and local residence in the town where Maureen hid from her husband) and we read this material as Caroline would be reading it. Finally we get to see the final (and deeply disturbing) article that the journalist published.
Anita Shreve is a...more
I really enjoyed this book and loved the way the story was told. The story starts with the journalist talking to Maureen's grown up daughter Caroline and then switches to the material that the journalist gives Caroline (interviews with Maureen and local residence in the town where Maureen hid from her husband) and we read this material as Caroline would be reading it. Finally we get to see the final (and deeply disturbing) article that the journalist published.
Anita Shreve is a...more
I've read Testimony by Anita Shreve so I knew of her detailed developing style, this one however took me by suprise at the subtlety Shreve used when approaching such a humongous, sensitive and well-covered issue.
The first thing I noticed in this book was that it's set up as research for a magazine article and it never once wavers unless it is meant (in Maureen/Mary's recount only). That is a sign of a truly great book for me at least. This is mainly made by a outside narrative with a past narra...more
The first thing I noticed in this book was that it's set up as research for a magazine article and it never once wavers unless it is meant (in Maureen/Mary's recount only). That is a sign of a truly great book for me at least. This is mainly made by a outside narrative with a past narra...more
I just finished this novel and it was wonderful. It started a little slow for me but once I got through it it will stick with me for awhile.
Its sad for me to think of the women of previous generations (and now) who have been abused and had to deal with it, but especially in the past when abuse or rape wasn't considered real. In the eventual article it was used with quotation marks. Its meant to be left up to the reader to decide what happened, what was real and what wasn't, and in the small tow...more
Its sad for me to think of the women of previous generations (and now) who have been abused and had to deal with it, but especially in the past when abuse or rape wasn't considered real. In the eventual article it was used with quotation marks. Its meant to be left up to the reader to decide what happened, what was real and what wasn't, and in the small tow...more
I read this book for a book group, otherwise I would never have chosen a book about domestic violence myself. The story was compelling but I am not a Shreve fan. As in her past books, the characters are unlikable and I feel she is a very manipulative, intrusive author. The characters feel like puppets on a stage; I never feel transported by the writing. In this case, the narrative is intentionally disjointed because the bulk of the story is related in a series of writings and interviews by the m...more
I rarely rate novels 5 stars, yet this one deserves to get 5. A novel by Anita Shreve “Strange Fits of Passion” is so absorbing a story that you simply can’t put the novel down until you finish reading it at one time. A story of a turbulent tragic story of domestic abuse. A woman who is sentenced to a life prison for a first degree murder she did for self-defense against her brutal husband. Unlike other novels that use a lot of “I” and seem to have only one character speaking and playing role th...more
Sometimes it's good to go back and read an author's early work. Strange Fits of Passion, 1991, is clearly one of Shreve's best efforts. Well plotted, with an interesting format of 'transcriptions' of the POVs by the main and minor characters, Shreve takes the reader into the very dark territory of spousal abuse.
The narrator is a magazine reporter who once did a sensational story of a murder trial, and who is now giving the grown daughter of the woman at the center of the story, the transcripts-...more
The narrator is a magazine reporter who once did a sensational story of a murder trial, and who is now giving the grown daughter of the woman at the center of the story, the transcripts-...more
Despite the uncomfortable theme of this novel, it quickly pulls you in, and makes you just want to keep reading and reading, to find out how things happened. The climax of the story is hinted at from very early on, but the details, and the how, are slowly revealed as the book goes on. Being told from the perspectives of several characters gives an extra depth, and a reality, with different people always seeing the same thing slightly, or not so slightly, differently.
One of Anita Shreve's best.
One of Anita Shreve's best.
No one does tension and raw emotions as well as Anita Shreve. Even though I couldn't relate to the main character and it wasn't long before I knew what was happening to her, Shreve still held my interest. This isn't a great book or a must read, but it is a quick interesting story about a woman who is a victim of domestic violence and what finally happens. The setting is Maine and a touch of the fishing industry, similar to Shreve's other books. Her settings also are taunt.
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Anita Shreve grew up in Dedham, Massachusetts (just outside Boston), the eldest of three daughters. Early literary influences include having read Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton when she was a junior in high school (a short novel she still claims as one of her favorites) and everything Eugene O'Neill ever wrote while she was a senior (to which she attributes a somewhat dark streak in her own work). A...more
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“Once you tell your first lie, the first time you lie for him, you are in it with him, and then you are lost.”
—
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