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418th out of 506 books
—
260 voters
Off Season
Acclaimed novelist Anne Rivers Siddons's new novel is a stunning tale of love and loss.
For as long as she can remember, they were Cam and Lilly--happily married, totally in love with each other, parents of a beautiful family, and partners in life. Then, after decades of marriage, it ended as every great love story does...in loss. After Cam's death, Lilly takes a lone roa...more
For as long as she can remember, they were Cam and Lilly--happily married, totally in love with each other, parents of a beautiful family, and partners in life. Then, after decades of marriage, it ended as every great love story does...in loss. After Cam's death, Lilly takes a lone roa...more
Hardcover, 368 pages
Published
August 13th 2008
by Grand Central Publishing
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42nd out of 51 books
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5 voters
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I was breezing along with this book, thinking it was a light, fluffy, slightly overwrought novel until I got to the last thirty pages or so. Huh? What happened?! Why did it end so abruptly and strangely? Why were the loose ends not tied up (who was "D" from New Mexico?)?
I am literally going back today to read the final pages again to see if I missed something---and to see if I get what happened at the end.
I am literally going back today to read the final pages again to see if I missed something---and to see if I get what happened at the end.
I have read most of Siddon's novels -- I would put this one somewhere near the top. After the death of her husband, Lilly returns to the scene of her childhood summers on the coast of Maine. Well-developed characters, a story we can relate to, and Siddon's talent for creating a scene so vividly that it truly surrounds you. She brings childhood in the time of Kennedy's Camelot to life.......even tho I would have liked an ending that was less abrupt.
Anne Rivers Siddons does it again. She spins a captivating tale of a young girl whose honeyed childhood ends in the tragic death of her first love, then cocoons her through years of protective denial, a fantasy like marriage to a Jamie Fraser lookalike, only to throw a shocker at the end with an ugly twist guaranteed to puncture the reader's sense of fairness.
I loved the descriptions of the Maine seashore, the breathing of the ocean, the wildlife, the ospreys, and the scents and taste of the sum...more
I loved the descriptions of the Maine seashore, the breathing of the ocean, the wildlife, the ospreys, and the scents and taste of the sum...more
I toyed between giving this 2 starts or three stars. MOST of the book was really good, and then there was the ending. My mother-in-law was reading this same book at the same time, and neither one of us has any clue what the ending meant. We are confused.
Like I said, good book, bad ending.
Like I said, good book, bad ending.
Having recently finished " Sweetwater Creek", I was anxious to read another ARS novel, but cannot say that I am enjoying this one at all. Her writing style reminds me of Sue Monk Kidd, whom I adore, but this one is irritating me.
Like others have mentioned, I think talking animals are silly and better suited to stories aimed at an audience of 4-8 year olds, not adults.
The characters come off as contrived and although I loved the attention to atmospheric detail in "Sweetwater", it's wearing thin n...more
Like others have mentioned, I think talking animals are silly and better suited to stories aimed at an audience of 4-8 year olds, not adults.
The characters come off as contrived and although I loved the attention to atmospheric detail in "Sweetwater", it's wearing thin n...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Wow, what a story!
There was a time very early in my marriage that I couldn't even fathom a world without Brad. He's my true North, and I would feel lost and anxious whenever separated too long. It has taken a lifetime of marriage to understand these deep, precious feelings. Some might call it love, but I think it is something so much deeper, a sentient far more complicated.
These feelings, the lifetime of Lilly Constable, that are explored by Siddons in this tender, passionate tale about growing...more
There was a time very early in my marriage that I couldn't even fathom a world without Brad. He's my true North, and I would feel lost and anxious whenever separated too long. It has taken a lifetime of marriage to understand these deep, precious feelings. Some might call it love, but I think it is something so much deeper, a sentient far more complicated.
These feelings, the lifetime of Lilly Constable, that are explored by Siddons in this tender, passionate tale about growing...more
Off Season is a beautiful rendering of one family, the connections between its members, and the flawed relationships created by secrets and betrayal.
When Lilly Constable McCall loses her husband Cam, to an untimely death, she escapes to the family’s summer home on the coast of Maine. It is here that all of her memories, both beautiful and painful, descend…
It all washes over her, just as the coastal tides sweep the shores---memories of beautiful family vacations, childhood friendships, first love...more
When Lilly Constable McCall loses her husband Cam, to an untimely death, she escapes to the family’s summer home on the coast of Maine. It is here that all of her memories, both beautiful and painful, descend…
It all washes over her, just as the coastal tides sweep the shores---memories of beautiful family vacations, childhood friendships, first love...more
I loved this book. In the beginning of the book I was a little put off that Lilly and her dead husbands cat communicated but most of the story is in the past and it turns out to be such a nostalgic coming of age story in the kennedy era and the civil rights movement. Anne Rivers Siddons love of nature is evident through out the story. From Maine to Washington Lilly's earlier years are spent in coastal maine with her loving mother and father in the summer lilly explores the seaside with a gang of...more
The best of this book was the consistent need the protagonist has to be one with nature, whether it was air or water, she was bound to it inextricably. The love story was profound, the family story wry and moving, the drama a little slow at times, but the ending was a surprise, almost too much of one...I like the anticipation or at least the sense that there is a "mystery", this conclusion just appeared and left me unsettled.
But the settings in D.C. and Maine were very engaging and the cabin in...more
But the settings in D.C. and Maine were very engaging and the cabin in...more
Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons, was published by Hatchette Book Group, and begins with Libby McCall returning to her summer home in Maine to spread the ashes of her beloved husband, Cam. While she’s there, she’s flooded with memories. Memories starting at the age of 11 when her first love dies in a tragic accident, through her mother’s death and ending with her marriage. After a summer in the Maine cottage, Lilly holds a memorial service for her husband and discovers a secret she’d rather not...more
Anne River Siddons never disappoints with her books. though this one is set in Maine instead of the South you get a sense of how much she loves nature and how good her descriptions are. Her Characters are well developed also. it begins with Lily as a young girl and that first love. Remember that feeling? she goes on to marry and have a loving family but when her husband dies you get the feeling all was not as it appeared. she goes back to the childhood cabin to spread his ashes and come to grips...more
When I need a break from despair, violence, or any other emotion of great depth I often turn to Anne Rivers Siddons for a little escape or beach reading. Perhaps this time I should have paid closer attention to the advance hints at plot. It has all the imagery of the rugged Maine coast in summer balanced with Washington DC for the rest of the year as a backdrop for the story told in reverse from the voice of Lilly, a widow, who goes to Maine to put her life in perspective after the death of her...more
Anne Rivers Siddons has created another good “colony” tale in OFF SEASON. Still reeling from her husband’s death, 58 year-old Lily Constable McCall escapes to her family summer home in Edgewater, Maine. Here, Lily is truly happy. A malevolent spirit has kept her safe since the summer of 1962, when her world began to spin out her control. She gained her 1st love and lost Jon there. Her free-spirited mother found her voice as an upcoming painter and activist there. Her father buried himself in Col...more
I really really think I should start spending way more time reading the backs of books and going "What does this mean?" Cuz, I was reading this book and going ok. What is going on? I'm not hearing really anything about this long, loving marriage. And then I reread the back and it was like well, meh, kinda, ok. But I think you're misleading me. Either that or stop reading the back altogether and getting the story I get.
I loved Jon. He was just so cute. I would be ok with someone like him liking m...more
I loved Jon. He was just so cute. I would be ok with someone like him liking m...more
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The unusual ending - Seems to me there are some snafus there. David is Cam's son, lives in a double-wide trailer down the bay a bit, therefore making him known to the locals. If he looks exactly like Cam, they would have known whose son he was....so why does Laurie not prepare Lilly for that? Lilly could have run into him at any time during her rambles. Snafu 2: Why the letters to Cam from Santa Fe if David lives in Maine? Snafu 3: David obviously has a relationship with Cam, therefore he has to...more
Hmmm...I really really like her writing style...love her descriptions of life on the Maine coast (makes me want to vacation there), but the problem I have is that all of her books are so similar. This one is like Colony (one of my all time favs)...I knew about 1/3 through the book what was going to happen with some of the characters. I guess that is not a bad thing, but it really bothered me. It's the story of a woman, Lilly, whose husband Cam has just died. She drives up to their family home in...more
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I've read a number of Anne Rivers Siddons books, the most memorable of which is Colony which I probably read 20 years ago and still have in my mind.
Hadn't read one in a while so I picked this one up -- it's the story of a recent widow who returns to her childhood home in Maine by herself to collect her thoughts and the book opens with her husband's death and then tells the story of her life as she sits in her house in Maine.
It's a compelling story with interesting characters and action. You do r...more
Hadn't read one in a while so I picked this one up -- it's the story of a recent widow who returns to her childhood home in Maine by herself to collect her thoughts and the book opens with her husband's death and then tells the story of her life as she sits in her house in Maine.
It's a compelling story with interesting characters and action. You do r...more
Beautifully written, as I think all her books are. Thought provoking and time specific. The author's ability to really delve into the emotions and feelings of certain of the main characters is what I find facinating. I could really feel Lily's emotions as she traveled through childhood to adulthood. Can you imagine her shock at finding out her beloved husband was not in fact what she thought? I believe that was her demise! No, the book isn't confusing at all - of course David is Cam and Peaches...more
This book is about Lilly and going through her life journey with her from 11 until death. It is a hard read to get into at first, and until page 80 or so it's a struggle, at least for me, to really feel out the characters.
Some you really never do.
Lilly lost her first love, Jon, when she was 11 due to his drastic suicide when he found out through a girl jealous of Lilly and Jon's relationship what Jon's father had hid from him all these years, he was part Jewish decent, which back in those times...more
Some you really never do.
Lilly lost her first love, Jon, when she was 11 due to his drastic suicide when he found out through a girl jealous of Lilly and Jon's relationship what Jon's father had hid from him all these years, he was part Jewish decent, which back in those times...more
I enjoyed reading the book all the way up until the last third when the novel started to go down-hill, then the clincher- the ending was horrible. The entire book is built on the development of various relationships between the main character, Lily, and other people in her life. Most of the relationships are clearly painted and the interactions between the characters helps the reader to bond. Despite the fact that Siddons sets up the relationship between Lily and her husband as being one of the...more
Jul 29, 2011
~mad
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Sarah, Donna, Rise - other Southern Girls
Shelves:
booksiveread
I read Burnt Mountain and then, Off Season back-to-back. I devoured both. If you read the reviews on Amazon.com, there is much complaining about characters undeveloped, too much mysticism and infidelity. I take note, but, still, I could not put either of these books down.
I have read all but one of ARS's books...just not her non-fiction, John Chancellor Makes Me Cry.
Some of her stories are just short of odd. She finds some storylines that just confound me. But fiction is just that - fiction. I r...more
I have read all but one of ARS's books...just not her non-fiction, John Chancellor Makes Me Cry.
Some of her stories are just short of odd. She finds some storylines that just confound me. But fiction is just that - fiction. I r...more
Another good, old Anne Rivers Siddons book about the South. Couldn't finish it as it comes a little close to home, for me right now, but I may come back to it. I left it not because it wasn't well written, or the story wasn't a good one, but the "mom with cancer" storyline is not one I want to visit for a bit.
I do recommend her as a writer. Great for a summer read with that big glass of lemonade, sitting on a front porch, backyard or beach somewhere.
I do recommend her as a writer. Great for a summer read with that big glass of lemonade, sitting on a front porch, backyard or beach somewhere.
I am a big fan of Ms Siddons, and this one of her stronger works, reminiscent of 'Colony' in setting and characterization but on a smaller scale, and with a bit of a polarizing twist at the end.
Lilly Constable McCall's beloved husband Cam has died unexpectedly, and Lilly journeys from their Tidewater Virginia home to her family's summer home, Edgewater, near Bar Harbor, Maine. As she comes to terms with the loss of Cam, flashbacks tell Lilly's story. The summer she was eleven, the tranquility an...more
Lilly Constable McCall's beloved husband Cam has died unexpectedly, and Lilly journeys from their Tidewater Virginia home to her family's summer home, Edgewater, near Bar Harbor, Maine. As she comes to terms with the loss of Cam, flashbacks tell Lilly's story. The summer she was eleven, the tranquility an...more
This is a book I would have never normally pick up and read but I thought, what the hey...it's summer, it's a summer book...why not. All in all, it's not my type of book. But it's not horrible and I did finish it.
Recently widowed, Lilly is going back (with her husband Cam's ashes) to their summer house on the coast of Maine. She needs some time alone, away from her daughters and grandchildren, to reminisce and remember.
Flashback to Lilly as an eleven year-old and all the events that happened in...more
Recently widowed, Lilly is going back (with her husband Cam's ashes) to their summer house on the coast of Maine. She needs some time alone, away from her daughters and grandchildren, to reminisce and remember.
Flashback to Lilly as an eleven year-old and all the events that happened in...more
I'm new to the work of Anne Rivers Siddons. This is only the second of her books that I've checked out. There are things I really like about her writing, and near the top of that list is her treatment of the afterlife and spirituality. I think she's on to something and agree with her perspectives.
I also think she does nice things with words. Her prose is, for the most part, effective. Though I do think she sometimes throws in really unnecessary details. Perhaps she should hire me to serve as he...more
I also think she does nice things with words. Her prose is, for the most part, effective. Though I do think she sometimes throws in really unnecessary details. Perhaps she should hire me to serve as he...more
WOW! I give this book 3.5 stars. The ending completely threw me for a loop. I actually wish I had read this with my book club so I could discuss it with someone.
I really enjoyed the author's descriptions of Maine. Makes me want to go there on vacation sometime. Also enjoyed the insight into Washington D.C. society around the time of Kennedy administration. I'm going to make my mom read this ASAP so we can discuss.
I really enjoyed the author's descriptions of Maine. Makes me want to go there on vacation sometime. Also enjoyed the insight into Washington D.C. society around the time of Kennedy administration. I'm going to make my mom read this ASAP so we can discuss.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| She got a little magical | 5 | 40 | Mar 02, 2013 07:19am | |
| Setting | 2 | 9 | Feb 25, 2012 01:10pm |
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“Anyone who has lost a love to death can tell you about that fall. You wake from a hard-won sleep and be there warm and groggy and consider engaging the day. And then you remember. Half of you is not there, and never will be again. The person who focused all the disparate parts of you into a whole is gone. The agony is too much; you almost welcome the great slide ahead of you. But there is no oblivion in it. Only blackness and an endless well of red pain.”
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