Sixteen-year-old Amy lies in a coma. Her elder sister, Moira, sits beside her in the evenings and tells this story seeking forgiveness and retribut...
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Jan 02, 2008
Judy
rated it: 
I really liked 'Eve Green' by Susan Fletcher - her prose style is so poetic and beautiful - so couldn't resist picking her new novel up when I spotted it at the library.
After making a false start, I began the book again and found it difficult to put down, rushing through to the end. As in 'Eve Green', the descriptions of the landscapes are breathtaking.
This book is largely set at bleak stretches of coastline in both Pembrokeshire and north Norfolk, and follows the life of Moira, a q More...
After making a false start, I began the book again and found it difficult to put down, rushing through to the end. As in 'Eve Green', the descriptions of the landscapes are breathtaking.
This book is largely set at bleak stretches of coastline in both Pembrokeshire and north Norfolk, and follows the life of Moira, a q More...
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Dec 16, 2008
Alicia
rated it: 
Moira sits by the hospital bed of her sixteen year old comatose sister and tells her all of the things that her sister's arrival changed in her life. When Amy was born, it abruptly changed the trajectory of eleven year old Moira's existence and took her down a completely different path in life. This was another of my favorite quiet novels about sisters who never quite connect until it is too late. Beautifully written, my only wish is that I had been able to read this all in one sitting instead o
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Jul 25, 2007
Karolina
rated it:
It's haunting to read a book that literally sounds as if it's talking about me; watching Moira's life unravel in a metaphoric way to my own, and watching her take notices of things I would, and do alike things. One of the names even lines up. Reading about someone that seems like me makes me feel like my own life is more important, and less spiteful of who I am, because really, this woman talking of her life is finally forgiving herself for who she is.
The whole book is written in a c More...
The whole book is written in a c More...
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Aug 16, 2010
Ali
rated it: 
Oystercatchers is a beautifully written novel, the language often poetic, the imagery powerful, and yet I did find it harder going than Eve Green by te same author. Moira is a brittle dark character, her younger sister lies in a coma that has lasted more than 4 years. Moira looks back over her life and that of Amy's, as she visits her sister late at night in the silence of a hospital room. Moira has not been a good sister, and married young, she has not been a good wife, and it is in these late
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Apr 27, 2011
Andrea
rated it:
This book came highly recommended to me by someone with whom I share many favorite books, someone who Loved the story, Loved the writing. I did not love this book.
Moira was SO difficult a character; I know that is what the author tried to do, and she did it. But it is damn hard to hang on when the main character is a stone and you have to find compassion and insight through teeny tiny glimpses or pure guess-work. I was thinking of other dark novels I consider great - The Road, for More...
Moira was SO difficult a character; I know that is what the author tried to do, and she did it. But it is damn hard to hang on when the main character is a stone and you have to find compassion and insight through teeny tiny glimpses or pure guess-work. I was thinking of other dark novels I consider great - The Road, for More...
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Jun 07, 2009
Ellen
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This is a beautiful book. A young woman is telling the story of her life to her younger sister, who is in a coma. Moira, the elder sister, felt betrayed when her sister Amy was born when Moira was eleven. She always considered Amy an interloper who destroyed the security and serenity of the family. Moira was sent away to school, so Amy was never really part of her life. Nevertheless, Moira always avoided Amy and, by extension, her parents. Through Moira's talking to the silent Amy, Moira reveals
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Oct 11, 2011
Sue
rated it:
Moira was jealous of her baby sister, Amy, from the moment she was born. Unlike most big sisters her feelings never changed and she was downright mean to Amy.
Years later Amy has an accident and lies in hospital in a coma. Moira comes to her bedside most days and talks to her unresponsive sister about the past, including the many ways in which she was mean in Amy's childhood, finally realizing how horribly she treated her.
This was well written but somewhat depressing. Mo More...
Years later Amy has an accident and lies in hospital in a coma. Moira comes to her bedside most days and talks to her unresponsive sister about the past, including the many ways in which she was mean in Amy's childhood, finally realizing how horribly she treated her.
This was well written but somewhat depressing. Mo More...
May 31, 2011
Nadine
rated it:
I don't understand why people have said this book isn't as good as her first book Eve Green, perhaps it speaks to me because I see myself (another pisces) in Moira, and I've been to Stackpole, Broad Haven and looked on Skomer Island?
The brilliance of this book is subtle and it only just hit me today as I was researching the origins of Mary Magdelene's pagan origins that it struck me, the names are important in this novel.
Miriam - an older version of Mary (origins Mari - S More...
The brilliance of this book is subtle and it only just hit me today as I was researching the origins of Mary Magdelene's pagan origins that it struck me, the names are important in this novel.
Miriam - an older version of Mary (origins Mari - S More...
Sep 15, 2011
Michelle
rated it:
This is the story of Moira, told at her comatose sister's bedside. Moira was an only child until the age of 11, and was by all accounts, an unusual child, likely borderline autistic spectrum disorder. She is brilliant, but has trouble with relationships and her world is devastated by the birth of her sister. When the opportunity comes to leave the local village school and go to boarding school, she goes as far away as possible, feeling betrayed by her parents and unable at all to relate to her s
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Nov 22, 2008
Andi
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Nov 02, 2009
Relyn
rated it:
Oh. Oh my. What can I even say about writing like this? I was in the middle of this poetic confessional of a novel when I told Jeffrey, "I haven't read a book this well written since.... Well, since History of Love."
If you read my blog, you may recall that Nicole Krauss' book, History of Love, was my number one book last year. This is an amazing novel. Elizabeth Berg says that author Susan Fletcher and her work are in a class by themselves. I have to agree.
If you read my blog, you may recall that Nicole Krauss' book, History of Love, was my number one book last year. This is an amazing novel. Elizabeth Berg says that author Susan Fletcher and her work are in a class by themselves. I have to agree.
Mar 21, 2010
Amanda
rated it:
Absolutely loved this book. The lyrical writing was just beautiful, really spot on. Interestingly shifts from first to third person. Not only that but the British seascape settings made me want to move by the sea, I felt bereft when it was over. The characters are also spot on. Moira is that dark, flawed, struggling, lost soul in all of us,desperately wanting love but rejecting it to protect her vulnerability. A story of love then, jealousy and betrayal,but redemptive.
Feb 23, 2009
Kristen
rated it:
The novel is a poignant, emotional journey of a woman recounted through her stories to her younger, in-a-coma sister. It is magnificently written and although I didn't really like woman's choices (you're secreting trying to help her as you go along) it just pulls at your emotions and you just feel. If you've ever add a sister, felt jealous, friendless, lonely, insecure, etc. you will feel and understand her because it's right on the ball.
Jan 07, 2009
sisterimapoet
rated it:
A great start to the year.
I loved Fletcher's first book, and had high hopes for this - they weren't disappointed.
It was long and meandering, but felt like a sea walk (appropriately, as the sea is a main recurrent theme throughout)leaving me exhausted but enriched, full of little observations and big thoughts.
I felt I could have read this forever - and was genuinely sad to reach the end, no really because the plot was concluded, but because I won't spend any mo More...
I loved Fletcher's first book, and had high hopes for this - they weren't disappointed.
It was long and meandering, but felt like a sea walk (appropriately, as the sea is a main recurrent theme throughout)leaving me exhausted but enriched, full of little observations and big thoughts.
I felt I could have read this forever - and was genuinely sad to reach the end, no really because the plot was concluded, but because I won't spend any mo More...
Mar 11, 2011
Purple
rated it:
Just as with her first novel, this one swept me away with its beautiful writing. Unlike the earlier book, this one took much more time to read as it didn't fully engage me until much later in the story. This isn't a bad thing and it was good to take more time to absorb the story before moving on. Also unlike Eve Green, the ending was quite satisfying. I'm looking forward to reading more by Susan Fletcher.
Aug 06, 2011
I had to get used to the author's writing style, but I actually started to enjoy it once I'd grown accustomed - quite rich and expressive. I really related to the main character/narrator on a lot of fronts so probably enjoyed this book more than some others might. Probably something that girls rather than guys would enjoy (but is in no way chick lit).
May 25, 2011
Diane
rated it: 
Having loved Eve Green I had looked forward to this second novel from Susan Fletcher but have to say I'm not impressed. Other reviewers call the style lyrical and poetic but I just found it to be disjointed and difficult to read. The lack of dialogue and the short, sporadic sentences annoyed me and I only ploughed on because curiosity got the better of me but I didn't feel rewarded by the end.
Aug 08, 2011
Jenny
rated it:
This was an interesting read. I couldn't stop until I reached the end. Moira's much younger and much resented sister has been in a coma for 4 years and Moira visits her in the hospital often. As she visits, she talks to Amy and tells her some secrets.
Mar 05, 2010
Laurie
rated it:
I read to page 127 but decided to quit at that point. I have been reading books like Portrait of a Lady (Henry James), The Children's Book (A.S. Byatt), Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Bronte) and other things in which the people write in an entirely different style than Fletcher. I just tired of the modern style. E.G. "She wrote them down, in pencil." "A felt-tipped monkey, on a light bulb." "How they were white, and died." So choppy. And, the very unhappy, depr
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Jan 11, 2011
Clare
rated it: 
Having ADORED her first book, Eve Green, I raced to get my hands on this and was disappointed. It was OK, but didn't find the same poetry and symmetry as the other, in fact I wouldn't have known it was the same author. Bummed.
Aug 02, 2011
Although initially distracted by the switching between first and third person voice, I ended up liking this structure. The writing was beautiful and compelling, despite not an awful lot happening. I'd recommend it.
Aug 09, 2010
Stone, Moira (fikt)
kehitysromaanit
muistot : lapsuus
muistot : nuoruus
kotoamuutto
yksinäisyys : tytöt
sulkeutuneisuus
lahjakkuus
itsekkyys
sisaruus
tajuttomuus : siskot
sisäoppilaitokset : Englanti
kehitysromaanit
muistot : lapsuus
muistot : nuoruus
kotoamuutto
yksinäisyys : tytöt
sulkeutuneisuus
lahjakkuus
itsekkyys
sisaruus
tajuttomuus : siskot
sisäoppilaitokset : Englanti
Nov 29, 2010
Rebecca
rated it:
Sounded like a good premise - one sister is in a coma, the other sister sits by her bedside and tells her/recounts their life together. It lost me, though. Couldn't sustain interest.
Jun 09, 2010
Teddy
rated it:
What stands out to me in this book is how a childs perception can shape his or her life. I love books about the ocean and I feel it's setting furtherd it's theme of letting go.
Sep 09, 2009
Mara
rated it:
This is a beautifully written, lyrical book. Unfortunately, the writing is also so slow and deliberate that I almost couldn't stand it. What little drama or action there was in the book was almost completely overwhelmed by the ponderous writing.
Sep 08, 2010
Jessica
rated it:
Beautifully written, but the story at the heart of the novel just didn't click into place for me -- Amy and Moira's bond never seemed real enough to justify the central conflict of the novel. However, the language is lovely, and Fletcher is a talented writer.
Aug 26, 2011
Dawn
rated it:
The narrative was captivating. This is poetry. Beautifully written. But I felt the latter parts of the story lacking.
Oct 28, 2009
Andrea
rated it:
Beautifully written, with poetic prose and rounded characters. I liked this book as much as Eve Green.
May 02, 2009
Fiona
rated it:
good, well-written, but surely *some* good things happened in Moira's life?? i don't think she smiled once!
Feb 21, 2011
Lc16
rated it:
This was a nice surprise as I picked it up from my tbr pile on a whim and thoroughly enjoyed it.
