The End of the Point

by Elizabeth Graver

Longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction

Ashaunt Point, Massachusetts, has anchored life for generations of the Porter family, who summer along its remote, rocky shore. But in 1942, the U.S. Army arrives on the Point, bringing havoc and change. That summer, the two older Porter girls—teenagers Helen and Dossie—run wild while their only brother, Charlie, goes off to train for war. The children’s Scottish nurse, Bea, falls in love. And youngest daughter Janie is entangled in an incident that cuts the season short. 

An unforgettable portrait of one family’s journey through the second half of the twentieth century, Elizabeth Graver’s The End of the Point artfully probes the hairline fractures hidden beneath the surface of our lives and traces the fragile and enduring bonds that connect us.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Family, Novels, Book Club, Adult Fiction

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Elizabeth Graver’s novel, Kantika, is a multigenerational saga that moves from Istanbul to Barcelona, Havana and New York, exploring displacement, endurance, and family as home. Inspired by the life story of the author’s maternal grandmother Rebecca, Kantika was selected by the New York Times as a 2023 Best Historical Novel and Notable Book of the Year, and by NPR as a Best Book of 2023 and translated into Turkish and German. Kantika was awarded a National Jewish Book Award, the Edward Lewis Wallant Prize, the Julia Ward Howe Prize and the Massachusetts Book Award.
Elizabeth Graver's previous novel, The End of the Point, set in a summer community on Buzzard’s Bay from 1942 to 1999, was on the long list for the 2013 National Book Award and a New York Times Notable Book. She is the author of three other novels: Awake, The Honey Thief, and Unravelling. Her short story collection, Have You Seen Me?, won the 1991 Drue Heinz Literature Prize. Her work has been anthologized in Best American Short Stories, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, and Best American Essays. Her story “The Mourning Door” was award the Cohen Prize from Ploughshares Magazine. The mother of two daughters, she teaches English and Creative Writing at Boston College.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

To the privileged Porters, Ashaunt Point, on Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts, is far more than just a summer home; it is the place where the family has retreated for five generations to find sanctuary from the harsh realities of life. As World War II approaches, the Porters’ separate peace is threatened by their son’s war service and the establishment of an army base on the Point – but this also makes for an exciting season of unsupervised adventure for teenaged Helen and her younger sisters, Dossy and Jane. For Bea, one of their Scottish nannies, this pivotal year proves to be her last chance at romance before spinsterhood sets in. Readers see from her perspective how the summer of 1942 brings a death to hopes and to innocence, only compounding the trauma of the war’s casualties.

In a seamless shifting of sympathies, the passing of time is conveyed through Helen’s letters and diary entries, narrating the beginning of her academic career and her worries about the legacy she is passing on to her children, especially her fragile oldest son, Charlie. Decades pass, but whether as a drug-addled college dropout or an earnest human rights lawyer starting a family of his own, Charlie finds Ashaunt a haven – though it, too, is now under threat of both development and decay.

In an astonishing historical sweep, from Ashaunt’s first colonial settlers through the cultural upheavals of the twentieth century, Graver’s family saga with a difference questions parent-child ties, environmental responsibility, and the dictates of wealth and class. Her complex, elegiac tale, reminiscent of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and Liza Klaussmann’s Tigers in Red Weather, offers multiple points of view in a sympathetic gaze at a vanishing way of life – but an enduring sense of place.

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read my full review: http://bit.ly/XGIRHS

My opinion: I felt this book started off incredibly strong, but rapidly dropped off following the period of WWII. I could never quite get into this book or grasp what this book was about after this period of time and felt that the author tried to cram too much of a storyline/periods of time into too short of a book. Because of this, I couldn't connect with any of the characters past 1942 either. My recommendation would have been to either make the book longer and expand on it a bit or to focus on one period of time and keep it the same length. I was sort of reminded of the movie "Meet Me in St. Louis" without the endearing storyline/characters.

If push came to shove, I would have to admit that the description for the book on Goodreads is not what I walked away with.

[Lori L (She Treads Softly) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The End of the Point by Elizabeth Graver is a family saga that basically covers three generations, with the connection being their summers spent at the coast in Ashaunt, Massachusetts. Graver opens the novel with a brief passage about the arrival of the first Europeans to the point. Then she proceeds to 1942, when the Porter family, three daughters and entourage arrive at the coast to find the army occupying a large portion of it with barracks and viewing platforms. This portion of the narrative is told through the voice of Bea, the Porter's Scottish nanny, but introduces us to other members of the family, especially Helen, the oldest daughter and Jane the youngest.

Then the novel jumps briefly to 1947 with letters from Helen, written when she was in Europe. It quickly switches to Helen's diary entries from 1960. The next section is set in 1970 and follows Helen's troubled oldest son, Charlie. The final year followed is 1999. Every character in The End of the Point is struggling with change and finding their place in the changing world around them.

Of the characters, Scottish nurse/nanny Bea is the most compelling. She has the courage to leave Scotland to seek employment in America, but struggles with truly living her own life. She is fretful about Janie and dislikes Helen, but is resolutely devoted to the Porter family and resists any change in her life that does not include them. I was totally swept up with Bea's story and looked forward to seeing the rest of this family saga through her eyes, an outsider but privy to the inside workings of the family.

However, once The End of the Point moved on and away from Bea's voice, for me it went down hill. Additionally, all the leaps from one time to another made the narrative feel abrupt and disjointed to me. In some ways I wish Graver had chose to connect the time periods by observing family members through Bea's eyes, and with her insight and perceptions about the situations. Once the first section from 1942 was over (a third of the novel) it went downhill for me. While I didn't care for the characters of Helen or Charlie, I was interested in Bea to the very end and looked for information on her life as the story continued.

What elevated my opinion of The End of the Point was Graves skillful writing. Graves writing ability shines through several murky plot points. She had some lyrical passages that just sang and resonated with me. Her powers of observation and description are incredible. So, even though parts of the novel didn't work for me it is Highly Recommended for the writing.

Disclosure: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher and TLC for review purposes.

[Gloria ~ mzglorybe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rarely do I not finish a novel but just couldn't find myself caring about any of the characters enough to continue when I got about halfway through this. The ratings and reviews indicated we could expect gorgeously written, exquisite prose, and that Graver's writing is simply stunning on every page (?) that it dazzles and illuminates?? As a reader, I felt totally misled, but maybe that beautifully written prose was all in the second half.

In the first half it starts out with The Porter family and their help, mainly Bea, the Scottish nanny for Janie, one of the Porter children. We thought they might be the main characters. Bea was fairly interesting, as was her budding relationship with Smitty, a soldier. Their story, however is abruptly dropped, as the family leaves the vacation spot at the Point, to return home to New Jersey. This caused by something unfortunate that happened to the child in Bea's care, Janie (which was really nothing, except overdramatized). There were no high and low points of drama at all in this first half. Janie's incident was but a blip in the radar, the rest was a lot of frivolous dialogue about nothing. I wanted descriptive prose about this supposedly beautiful Ashaunt Point, but never got it.

What I found difficult was the bouncing around in timeframes. It didn't flow. She begins a chapter with the year, it could be the 1940's, the 60's or the 70's and not in order either, but back and forth. We don't know what person this chapter is about. Letters and journals with frivolous entries try your patience. New names inserted makes the reader wonder who we are reading about. It takes awhile to figure out that some of these names are children of the now-grown Porter children. Since we've jumped ahead, we realize we didn't even get the weddings and births to read about. Pretty soon you realize, dear reader, that you are working too hard to understand something you don't even care about. Not my cup of tea, sorry but I cannot recommend it to anyone in my reading circle.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel satisfied my New England Beach House fetish and love of intricate characters, covering the long-established Porter family tradition of summering on Ashaunt Point in Massachusetts. It begins in 1942, from the point of view of Bea, the Scottish nanny to the youngest daughter, Jane, as she makes a difficult choice about her future. The book then jumps ahead five years, to the oldest daughter, Helen, attending college in Switzerland. This section is told in diaries and letters--not my favorite style, but effective to show how Helen is beginning to think about what she loves and wants to do with her life.

Later sections focus on Helen and her son Charlie, who is very much like her, with excellent, subtle chronicles of their difficult relationship. The book continues through 1999, keeping the reader informed about all members of the family and psuedo family like Bea. Often, the author tosses in a line or two to give a glimpse of what happens to a character in the future -- a technique that I love.

There is not a definitive plot in this book. It’s about family interactions and personalities, which were complex and believable.

The weak points were that the leaps through time were often accompanied by big changes in the personalities of characters—certainly natural with maturity, but a little jarring since the reader doesn’t see how they got there. The book jacket describes an ongoing family issue that flat-out did not happen, which is actually fine since it didn’t sound like anything I would want to read. But it always baffles me when book jacket synopses are wrong.

[Mom · Rating 2 out of 5]

A multi-generational story of a wealthy New Jersey family with a summer house in Massachusetts at "the end of the point." The writing was satisfactory, and the first section of the book, about the family during World War II, was interesting. The character Bea, a Scottish woman who worked for the family as nanny, is a delightful character and her story intrigued me.

Unfortunately, as the story jumped forward to the 50's, the 70's and finally the late 1990's, the focus shifted to other characters who were uninteresting, whiny and tiresome. There seemed to be little point to the story other than the expected "everyone likes to come back to the summerhouse on the point."

[nomadreader (Carrie D-L) · Rating 5 out of 5]

(originally published at http://nomadreader.blogspot.com)

The basics: Spanning three generations of the Porter family and fifty years of their relationships with their hired help, The End of the Point focuses on the family at four different times in history, beginning in the 1950's. Much of the novel takes place at their summer home in Ashaunt, Massachusetts.

My thoughts: Reading The End of the Point made me realize how much I love present-future narrators. As the story of the Porter family unfolds, the reader gets hints of how things are now, even though the story is told in the moment:

"If things had turned out differently, she would have begun the story here--or no, Smitty would have told it; unlike Bea, he loved an audience, he'd have made it funny, drawn it out."

These moments aren't frequent, but as I encountered each one, it felt as though I was unwrapping a present. We don't have the certainty of the future in our own lives, but literature can provide us with one for these characters. It's a testament to Graver's writing and character building that this technique feels so real. I was utterly absorbed in this family that kept growing in number as the generations increased. Graver infuses so much richness into each of them, it's astonishing the novel is as short as it is. It feels more epic than its number of pages, and it feels like a complete story of the people in their time and place. Ashaunt is a character itself:

"She loves her house with a tenderness that makes it feel almost human."

I pictured it so vividly and delighted in seeing how the bedrooms changed hands over the years and depending on which siblings and cousins were there on a given weekend. In fact, as the narrative moved forward to the next moment in time, the house provides the structure, both literally and figuratively, as the reader takes stock of what has changed since the last moment in time.

As I read the last pages, I wept openly and publicly in the airport terminal. When I turned the last page, I was immensely satisfied, yet sad to say goodbye to these characters who felt like family in the two short days I spent with them. Most of all, I wondered how I had not heard of Elizabeth Graver until this, her fourth novel.

Favorite passage: "Largely, now, it was not anger he felt, but rather a kind of bone-scraping, quiet, ever-present sorrow. To come to the place that was supposed to stay the same, to come and find it changed. Dr. Miller had warned him against what he called the "geographic cure." You can't fix yourself by going somewhere else, he'd said. You'll always take yourself along."

The verdict: The End of the Point is a beautifully written, deeply moving portrait of three generations of the Porter family and the their evolving relationships with their servants and caregivers.

[Margerywieder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It's a family saga that focuses on a few members of a large extended family and moves back and forth in time a bit. I guess some people aren't comfortable with that, but for me, it provides a richness that many more plot-driven novels don't. Watching characters grow from childhood to adulthood (and into grandparenthood and beyond) got me thinking about life's inevitable transitions, sometimes in a sad, but always real and thought-provoking way.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a multi-generational story of a family who has the great privilege of owning a summer family compound on the Southcoast of Massachusetts. I may be more interested in the setting of this novel because I live adjacent to this lovely and historic area and know it somewhat. There are a lot of these family saga type novels and I can't say this is the most memorable. But I give the author credit for her skill at crafting her story. The novel is divided into different sections, all from a different point of view. There is a chronological progression to the plot, but the author often reveals what will happen to the characters many years hence. This could be reassuring in that you know that the character would ultimately be okay, or it could be annoying, depending on how you like your story revealed. The story starts during WWII when a base with soldiers is detracting from the quiet and the sense of being secluded from life. It ends at the Millenium when the pressures of development and an oil spill are doing the same. I did find myself more attracted to the storyline about Bea, the Scottish nanny, than to Porters, the privileged WASP family central to the story. The Porter family is interesting but quite exasperating.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

"On the point you can still find bones - fox sculls, rabbit femurs, porpoise vertebrae, and, on the shore in the crevice between two hard-lodged stones, a milk tooth lost by a child no longer a child."

A tale spanning generations, The End of the Point immerses the reader in a specific geographic location - Ashaunt Point, which is a tiny peninsula reaching into Buzzard's Bay, Massachusetts. From 1942 to the present day, author Elizabeth Graver takes the reader on a journey where we witness the Porter family's ties to the land, and the way that time affects both.

Graver's writing is stunning. Not only does she get inside her characters, but her attention to detail is impressive:

"It was an old metal milk truck with the wheels removed, painted army fatigue green so that blended into the bush, but you could still see some letters through the paint - an S, a V."

There is no question that Graver is a literary artist. There was also some excellent character development, specifically with the younger Charlie from the 1970's to the present. My biggest complaint would be that Graver took too long to establish the storyline in the beginning and I found it difficult to keep track of who the characters were. With the exception of "Plants and their Children" about 100 pages or so into the book, the style was third person narrative. This particular chapter changed things up a bit with a first person narrative, specifically in diary form. This really worked for me, and the transition helped me to better absorb the actual story.

While the family is affected by the times (specifically World War II and the Vietnam era) don't expect dramatics here. The changes are subtle and quite a bit is internal to the characters. A John Jakes saga this is not.

The End of the Point is a quite, intimate novel, rich in landscape and prose that shows how people and place can be connected as surely as family. 3 1/2 stars.

[(Lonestarlibrarian) Keddy Ann Outlaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touch of Upstairs Downstairs here because one of the main story lines follows a long-serving Scottish nanny as well as generations of the family she serves, set largely at their summer house on Ashaunt Point in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Time period: from World War II thru to more present times. I admit I sometimes got a little confused when the points-of-view changed or the time period suddenly jumped forward. The Porter family obviously had money, but they don't flaunt it, and nowhere is this more evident than during the barefoot summer months. Women who struggle to find a balance between family and work feel less conflicted during the summers and special holidays when they return to the Point. In the second generation we meet Charlie, who quits college after some casual drug use results in major panic attacks, depression and self-doubt, drops out and goes back to live in a little cabin near the summer house His story was probably my favorite. The author has a funny way of dropping hints about the outcome of some of the problems these characters face, and for me, at first that was a suspense-killer but ultimately I decided it was reassuring. I didn't have to worry that Charlie, for instance, would commit suicide. I always fall for books set near the ocean, often revolving around summer homes, so read-alike novels that come to mind are The Island by Erin Hildebrand or Colony by Anne Rivers Siddons, as well as the fine nonfiction classic, The Big House by George Howe Colt.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE END OF THE POINT is a moving and impressive novel. I loved how Graver uses a slow accumulation of detail to layer the story. The setting becomes more and more vivid with each scene as we see how much this summer home and landscape means to several generations of a family. The three principle characters--a Scottish nanny, an ambitious and complex mother, and her troubled son--are each unique and beautifully drawn. Years pass, and I felt I knew them through it all.

As a fellow novelist, I found it fascinating that Graver was able to succeed using a sometimes difficult structure: the story leaps forward by decades and sections are told from different characters' perspectives. That I wasn't distracted by these leaps, and didn't lose interest with the shifting voices is a testimony to the clarity of her vision. There are no gimmicks here. No short cuts. This is a novel in the tradition of great novels--one where the story is slowly and carefully wrought. Beautifully done!

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Judging by the fact that I have a bookshelf/tag specifically for books set in my home state, it seemed pretty likely that I would read this. Granted, it takes place in a fictional town, but with knowing the area and knowing a decent amount about the Cape, it was easy to figure out a generalized location.

The book is good. I enjoyed it, reading the whole thing in a day. I loved seeing street names that I recognized (looking at you, Dartmouth Street), an amusement park that used to be just on the other side of the peninsula (in which I had family that created it and worked there), even the old fort that's about a mile down the road from me. (Fort Rodman)

My biggest complaint? Why is there so much putting down of my city? Granted, New Bedford isn't the best city ever, but it certainly doesn't deserve to be so maligned. Every person that's lived here has certainly bitched about it, but I'd say... 80-85% of the NB mentions are in a negative light. Calling it "New Bedpan" or that the hospital (while never specifically named, but since there's only been one main hospital here since 1884) was "subpar." Again, I realize, it's fiction. And while I might say that we can't have nice things here because punks will deface them, I also point out its good features - the fort is one of my favorite places in this state, downtown's come along way in the past two decades.

So, yes. It's late, and I'm prone to being talkative and/or ranty. Who knew I had such pride in my city? ;)

[Pamela Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The End of the Point takes place on Ashaunt Point in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts; a place once owned and traded by American Indians. It’s a beautiful wild coastline populated by a few old money families who summer there. Unfortunately the peace and the terrain of the Point is changing; first because of the war in 1942 when the army puts up a Base and Look Out for German and Japanese attacks, then in later years when developers start buying the land. The story centers on one family, the Porters, and their nanny Bea who is from Scotland. Bea’s insights and history could be a novel by itself. The problem I had was this: the way this book is set up is too disjointed, skipping from one point of view to another. I kept stopping and questioning where I was in the story. The time, place and characters had me confused. For instance I thought that Charlie was an interesting character, well research with very real struggles with mental illness, but he is one of 3 Charlies in this family. Also the author tells us what will happen in the future in a rambling sort of way that stops the flow of the moment. There is enough storyline here to make more than one book or a larger novel set out chronologically. Some great moments that could have been more substantial, but I can only give it 4 stars. ARC from Amazon Vine. Read other reviews, some people loved it....

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me "End of the Point" is a difficult book to react to. I enjoyed it but didn't love it. It's mostly about a place, an island off the coast of New Jersey, where a family gathers each summer and has adventures. They love the place and have memorable times there but ultimately the story feels circular. Maybe it's because there is so much disappointment while the characters seem to have lots of privileges that most of us don't have but waste them. To her credit Graver is exemplary at portraying the interplay of so many characters. The story is told alternately from the viewpoint of a Scottish nanny named Bea, Helen the oldest daughter from the family Bea works for and Helen's oldest son Charlie. The island setting is equally a main character with its isolation, peacefulness, family traditions, wildlife and, during WWII, an army base with soldiers who interact with the family.

Intermittently I lost interest and sympathy with the characters and struggled to finish the book though its well written and large sections were wonderful. Perhaps my frustration is because nothing seems to come to fruition. An argument could be made however that that is exactly how life often is.

This review is based on an ebook provided by the publisher.
(Disclaimer given as required by the FTC.)

[Mme Forte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for family stories, especially if they involve a seaside vacation home (see "Maine", by Courtney Sullivan, among many others). This one is a gem. Told from the points of view of a mother, a son, and a nanny who worked for the mother's family for many years, the novel weaves their stories and their changing lives with the traditional retreats to the family retreat in Ashaunt, Massachusetts. Although the jacket copy mentions an incident that takes place in the first part of the book, before the U.S.'s entry into World War II, and makes the event seem pretty momentous, it does not loom large in the family's history, so if you're expecting intrigue or severe emotional trauma, you won't find it there. There is trauma, and drama, and there are big personalities, and often exquisite writing, and insight into the different joys and sorrows and pain that occur over time in a big family.
A little heavy for a beach read due to its construction and style, "The End of the Point" has its own virtues and rewards.

[Clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The End of the Point is an interesting book, neither fish nor fowl. Part diary entries, part history of an extended family, part love song to the special place -Ashaunt- that binds the characters together. Like the characters, the land is both powerful and fragile, subject to war, weather, development, oil spills and, of course, the sea. But even as the world changes, the families of the point hold tight to their traditions -Beetle cat races, picnics on a favorite rock, children free to wander from kitchen to kitchen- and their lives isolated and sheltered by wealth. Elizabeth Graver moves swiftly and precisely through this world, giving us beautiful descriptions of the Point and weaving in the tiny details that make this world real -the Big House, Teal Rock, swimming from the dock, the little cabin in the woods. She knows this world intimately and lets us enter it with her. I found this a book to read slowly -in fact, I read it twice in one week and loved it both times.

[Sallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't been this captivated by a novel in a very long time. Graver's technique of differentiating generations in one family is extremely effective and extraordinarily well executed. I love how she makes a scene easily accessible and immediate--then throws in a little tidbit about the future to oddly satisfy a niggling concern the reader is having at just that moment. Her depiction of an upper-class, old-monied New England family is spot on, with its secrets, its anomolies, and its predjudices so beautifully and authentically depicted--and a lovability around the main characters that I found quite breathtaking. The summer property--in the family for generations--is certainly a character and rings as true as the human characters. I absolutely loved this book by an author whose work was unknown to me until now. Her writing is exquisite--deceiving in its simplicity and poetic in its affect.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A portrait of a New England family who spend summers on Ashaunt Point in Massachusetts. The Porters are wealthy, but place emphasis on family above all else. In 1942, the U.S. Army arrives bringing havoc and change. The two older girls, Helen and Dossy, run wild, their Scottish nurse falls in love and Janie is involved in an incident that haunts the family for years. As years pass, Helen and her son Charlie return more often than the others and Helen begins keeping a journal about the flora. She marries a man from France and a majority of the book is devoted to their lives, especially the son Charlie who takes LSD and suffers panic attacks for the rest of his life. The writing is eloquent and read like poetry. It is a wonderful read, especially is you enjoy reading about generations of family.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a real gem. I didn't care for it at first and wondered why my daughter recommended it to me, but by picking it up determinedly, I began to see its beauty! It is more than a family saga, it is a time capsule of events, some of which I can only feel by reading and comparing to what I have been told by my own parents. I loved that it was not a tedious diary of what this family did all day, every day, but that the decades passed and the people aged and changed in large spans of time . It is gorgeous in descriptive prose, revealing in emotional pictures that the place, Ashaunt, was like a family member in and of itself. In fact, a main character felt at the end that it was like "a second mother" to him. This book has affected me and I will fondly think about this family for along time to come.

[Janet Maragioglio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a quiet beauty that made it a true pleasure to read. I always gravitate toward books set in New England, and although this is set on a "fictional" point of land that is a summer playground for wealthy New England families, the details make it easy to figure out the location on Buzzards Bay. The characters are complex, but never tedious, and the interplay between the different generations of this family and the land itself makes for a great story, and well told. Graver's language flows like the sea itself, and I love how she can convey everything from a difficult conversation to facts about nature to emotional truths without ever getting bogged down or overwriting. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

[Angela M · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars - I liked it but didn't love it . I could connect with Bea , the Scottish nanny but the only member of the Porter family , I really liked was Mr . Porter for most of the book . Although , in the end we learn through Charlie what the summer home has meant to the family and what they meant to each other . This wasn't always evident early in the book and I found it hard to really like these people .

[Cathryn Conroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chances are, this book won't grab you on page one. It took quite a bit longer than that to pull me into the heart of what is really a simple story and the souls of what are actually quite complex characters. It was definitely worth the wait.

Written by Elizabeth Graver, this is the story of the affluent Porter family, who own an oceanside summer compound on the two-mile long Ashaunt Point in Massachusetts. When the novel opens in the summer of 1942, the Porters' four children are beginning to grow up. Charlie has just enlisted in the Army, Helen is 16, Dossy is 14, and Janie is 8. The U.S. Army has taken over much of Ashaunt Point, and the presence of the many soldiers is a delight to Helen and Dossy. Janie is lovingly cared for by her Scottish nanny, 36-year-old Bea, who has never married and is falling in love with one of the soldiers. And then something quite frightening happens to Janie that changes much for this family. The book continues marching through the years by focusing on just two of them: 1970 and 1999. The three main sections of the book are told from the point of view of either Helen, Beatrice or Helen's troubled son, Charlie, which has the interesting effect of slightly altering the impression of the past because it's seen through the prism of someone else's eyes.

The greatest strength of this superb novel is the characters, especially as they evolve through the generations—what they do, how they think, and how they deal with life's happiness and tragedies all the while cushioned by old money, a storied family, deep friendships, and all the advantages of privilege. Most important, one of those characters is Ashuant Point, as place and what it means for this family is the primary focus of the novel.

This is an intelligent, serious, and (most of all) literary book with keen observations about life, love, hope, chance, and the fragility of family. But reader beware: This is a slow-moving novel with a negligible plot.

And while it's not a page-turner that kept me reading past my bedtime, it danced in my dreams. As I wandered through my day, I found myself thinking about it—a lot.

[Rachel Brewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is probably best read when you can dedicate a long period of time to reading it. I read the first half piecemeal and didn’t really like it (and had a very difficult time following the various characters and their relationships to one another.) Then I read the second half in just two sittings and liked it much more. This book follows the history of a family and their summer home. It spans multiple decades and deals with many different (serious) issues, and from many different perspectives. I especially enjoyed the evolving relationship of Charlie and his mom. While I enjoyed this book, I didn’t really care about any of the characters. Charlie annoyed the crap out of me. I didn’t have strong feelings towards anyone else.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see why a lot of people rated this book so low - if you are looking for a book with a beginning, middle and end this is not it. This book felt much more like getting small snippets into a family's lives and legacies and if you don't like it when books jump around or focus more on characters rather than plot you won't like this. I found the book oddly comforting (maybe because I read it on an island on the east coast) and just enjoyed getting lost in it, although I would have trouble telling you what it is even really supposed to be about.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Die wohlhabende Familie Porter verbringt seit Jahren ihre Sommer für einige Wochen auf Ashaunt, einer Halbinsel vor der Ostküste Amerikas. Das idyllische Ferienhaus ist ihr Rückzugsort, an dem sie über Generationen hinweg, den Alltag hinter sich lassen können und die Tage unbeschwert und in vollen Zügen genießen können. Die Familie stammt aus New Jersey und besteht aus Mrs. und Mr. Porter und den vier Kindern Charlie, Helen, Dossy und dem Nesthäkchen Janie. Außerdem gehören die Kindermädchen Agnes und Bea zur Familie.

Im Sommer 1942 herrschen turbulente Zeiten auf Ashaunt. Eine amerikanische Militärbasis wird auf der Halbinsel errichtet und dies beeinflusst das Leben der Porters gewaltig, denn der Soldatenstützpunkt befindet sich in unmittelbarer Nähe zum Anwesen der Familie und bringt Unruhen mit sich. Soldaten tummeln sich auf der Ferieninsel, doch die Schwestern Helen, Dossy und Janie, sowie die beiden Kindermädchen, genießen trotzdem ihre Sommertage, während ihr Bruder Charlie in Texas für seinen militärischen Einsatz trainiert.

Elisabeth Graver erzählt über Schicksale und Erlebnisse der einzelnen Familienmitglieder, wobei Ashaunt stets der Mittelpunkt der unterschiedlichen Geschichten bleibt. In verschiedenen Abschnitten und jeweils aus der Sicht eines anderen Protagonisten, wird das Leben der Figuren und Generationen beleuchtet. Die Autorin kreiert für jeden Teil ihrer Geschichte einen eigenen, persönlichen Stil und die Erzählweisen unterscheiden sich sehr deutlich voneinander. Wir lesen über die unterschiedlichen Lebenswege der Familienmitglieder von 1942 bis 1999, doch viele Nebenfiguren und Handlungsstränge werden nur kurz angerissen und verschwinden ebenso schnell wieder in den Hintergrund.

Die Geschichte beginnt mit Bea, dem schottischen Kindermädchen, das für das jüngste Kind der Familie verantwortlich ist. Bea liebt die kleine Janie und ist stark mit den Porters verbunden. Eines Tages begegnet sie auf Ashaunt einem stationierten Soldaten und muss sich zwischen der Liebe zu dem jungen Mann und ihrem Schützling Janie entscheiden.

Einige Jahre vergehen und wir begleiten Helen, die älteste Tochter der Porters. Von 1947 bis 1961 erzählt die unabhängige junge Frau in Briefen und Tagebucheinträgen über ihre Erlebnisse und ihre Ausbildung in Europa. Sie ist hin und hergerissen zwischen Familienleben und Studium. Helens Kapitel weist wenig Handlung auf, sondern ist geprägt von ihren Sorgen und vielen Gedankensprüngen.

Später steht Helens Sohn Charlie im Mittelpunkt der Geschichte. Wie schon bei seiner Mutter, spürt man ganz deutlich eine große innere Zerrissenheit bei dem jungen Mann. 1970 zieht er sich auf das Familienanwesen Ashaunt zurück und versucht sein Leben, nach exzessivem Drogenkonsum und dem Abbruch seines Studiums, neu zu sortieren. Auf der Halbinsel findet er die nötige Ruhe sein zerstörerisches Verhalten in den Griff zu bekommen.

Manche Familienmitglieder waren mir sympathischer als andere und einige Abschnitte des Romans habe ich favorisiert. Beispielsweise hätte ich Beas Lebensweg gerne länger begleitet, doch leider wurden viele Handlungsstränge nicht vertieft. Obwohl man viele Höhen und Tiefen mit den Figuren durchlebt und wichtige Themen wie Familie, Liebe, Verlust und Emanzipation behandelt werden, blieben mir die meisten Protagonisten fremd. Die Erzählweise der Autorin ist durchaus anspruchsvoll und konzentriertes Lesen ist notwendig um kein Detail zu verpassen, denn die Autorin arbeitet mit vielen Rückblenden und Zeitsprüngen. Leider fehlte mir aber insgesamt die Spannung.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The End of the Point is a well-chronicled story of members of the Porter family and their relationship with the land, sea, and each other at Ashaunt Point, Buzzards Bay, MA, where they spend summers.

Elizabeth Graver divides the novel into four sections, starting in 1942 and spanning nearly 60 years. Since quite a few years pass between sections and there are many characters, we delve into the lives and minds of some, only glimpse others. One we follow is Bea, a gentle Scottish nurse to the Porters’ youngest child Jane, whom Bea loves like her own. “It was not that Janie’s mother did not love her. Was it? No, there was love there, but it was of a most peculiar kind.” Bea tenderly and joyfully fills in the gaps.

Another character, Helen, Jane’s older sister, is bored, reckless, and quite intelligent and curious when we first meet her at 16; as she ages, we find that she is also ambitious and irascible. We read letters and diary entries which vividly tell of her studies and aspirations, of her attachment to Ashaunt and the ocean, and of her love for her children -- along with her disappointments, her fears, and her annoyances. She is an admirable if exasperating person and mother.

The one we see in greatest depth is Helen’s oldest child, Charlie, who is given the longest section in the novel. At 19 Charlie retreats to Ashaunt for an extended off-season stay after floundering in private school and college. I liked Charlie’s portrayal very much; we really get inside his head -- at least as much as possible, since he is subject to panic attacks and often can’t quite get inside his own head. He is perfectly content to live a solitary life in the woods, exploring, living off the land, swimming, reading, needing little human contact. He is a great disappointment to his mother who had such high expectations for her favorite and most gifted child, and their relationship has been more than rocky. We sympathize with him. No wonder Charlie considers Ashaunt “his mother, a second mother ... perhaps even a first mother ... in how it nourishes him as she often could not.” Ashaunt, of course, doesn’t criticize or judge or demand.

Graver excels at description and often uses short sentences, sometimes just phrases, not long passages, to help the reader effectively live the experiences with the characters.

Over the years the family witnesses many changes to the landscape, from the construction of an army base during WWII, to the building of a fancy golf course, to an offshore oil spill. Changes to the Porters’ beloved property can’t be halted any more than the changes to the family itself -- though some try and more may yearn for that fantasy called “the way things were.”

There were points midway in the book when I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue, but I’m glad I persisted -- Charlie was worth it.

[LindaJ^ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Porters own land on Ashaunt Point, located at the tip of one of those long fingers into the Atlantic Ocean that are found on the New England Coast. The first, and shortest, part of the book -- "Fifteen axes, fifteen hoes" -- describes the bill of sale in which the Native American tribe transfers "ownership" of Ashaunt Point the Colony of Massachusetts. Ashaunt is the geographic and spiritual center of this novel.

The book covers most of the 20th century, but there are some significant jumps in time between the parts of the book, although in some parts we travel back in time or are provided with glimpses of what happens in the lives of the characters in the future. The times focused on are significant not only for the characters but sometimes also in history, e.g., WWII and Vietnam.

Our first narrator is Bea, an "employee" of the Porters who, along with Agnes, are the caregivers or "nurses" of the Porter's four children. Bea is the primary narrator of the 1942 part and returns periodically through the remainder of the book. Bea is a immigrant from Scotland, forced to leave Scotland when there was no work to be had. During this part, we learn about Bea's life in Scotland during what I believe is the 1920s-1930s. Bea was not just an employee, she was in many respects part of the family.

Our second narrator is Helen, the oldest of the three Porter children. From the first part, we know Helen as a very bright, difficult to control teen. Helen narration in this part is primarily through her journal entries and concerns 1947-1961.

Our third narrator is Charlie, Helen's oldest son. We've met Charlie through Helen eyes but now Charlie takes center stage. Charlie is a freshman in college, but not in the Ivy League college his mother expected him to be but at a school in Cleveland, Ohio. It is 1970 and Charlie makes a big mistake that changes his life forever. He returns to Ashaunt Point to heal and finds one of the old families has sold land to a developer.

In the last part of the book, 1999, all three narrators have a role. Charlie has just married, Helen is dying of cancer, and Bea is 94 and living in Scotland. And there has been an oil spill that coats Ashaunt Point.

I loved this book. For me, it was all about the relationships, both between and amongst family and with the places, especially Ashaunt, they thought of as home.

[Pamela Klurfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a long to time get into this story, but their all started coming together. So I give it 4 stars. It’s a terrific multigenerational family saga.

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The End of the Point revolves around the rambling Buzzards Bay summer home of the wealthy Porter family.
‘Aug 1. Everyone is arriving today with cars and help, and it feels like an actual change of season. I had the strange idea as the cars came down the road that the children and I were the native animals, and now the actual humans will arrive and spoil our peace’.
Spanning sixty years, the story is related in several segments - part diary, part narration. Overall, I was beguiled, and hated to reach the end, my sole reservation being that Charlie’s saga of his dark years became slightly wearing. That said, I loved so many things about this story, and it brought to mind an all-time favorite, Coming Home, by Rosamunde Pilcher. Elizabeth Graver skillfully renders the strength and heartbreak of family - the bonds, the shared history, and the inevitable gene pool at work! Relationships are a key element. A sense of place is also vital to the story, and the reader is transported to a world of incredible beauty.
‘Last night I wished we had not come, for it was bleak, but the morning changed everything. Such a wind, and such clearness and colors, I have never seen before, everything scrubbed clean. The yellow and red chrysanthemums are in full bloom now, and the dahlias. The roses have turned to red berries and the huckleberry bushes and bay bushes to purple russet’. One could almost smell the bracing sea air!
And also ‘I should be glad we are not on Ashaunt, but I hate to miss a hurricane, to feel its power and walk out to the end where the wind might flatten you and the gray waves crest high, then curl and finally teeter and fall. There is almost nothing so beautiful and, at the same time, so frightening, as that curved lip.’
Possibly I’m including too many quotes. However, when a finished book holds lots of saved pages, that’s indicative! How well she writes! A new favorite author!