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Sea Glass

3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 · rating details · 13,406 ratings · 905 reviews

In the textile-manufacturing region of New Hampshire in 1929, newlyweds Honora and Sexton Beecher wrestle with all the wonders and challenges that young couples have always faced. They've just purchased a house near the ocean that needs a lot of work, but the couple is dedicated to making it a home. When the economy fails and a single unscrupulous act perpetrated by Sexton...more

Mass Market Paperback, 374 pages

Published December 28th 2006 by Little Brown and Company (first published 2002)

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The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

New England Books

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Mar 20, 2008 Tasha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008, personal-favorites, historical-fiction

I almost passed on this book when I found it at a thrift store. The book's plot looked promising and I wasn't disappointed.

My favorite quaote from the book:
"The only problem with looking for sea glass", Sexton says one day when he and Honora are walking along the beach, "is that you never look up. You never see the view. You never see the houses or the ocean because you're afraid you'll miss something in the sand."

7 likes · like · see review

Dec 10, 2007 Marigold rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What I liked: The setting - Shreve does a great job evoking the atmosphere of the New England coast/mill town in the Depression era. I liked learning about the mill strikes & plight of the workers & those who led the strikes. I would have liked a lot more detail about that. I liked the interesting rhythm that Shreve has created with the story - a rhythm that echoes the sea itself - the story sort of surges forward & then backs off, surges & backs off. This was a little weird at f...more

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Apr 05, 2009 Katie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

No, no, no... Though there were touching moments in this book that I enjoyed, I felt like the plot was SO boring for such an important issue. I really had a hard time finishing this book (which is extremely rare,) until it started picking up a little bit at the end.

I always love the way Anita Shreve writes about character interaction. Using her words, I can always picture exactly the way a person is moving, smiling, speaking, and how they are feeling. Maybe that's why I'm so addicted to her des...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 28, 2009 Lanea rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, women-writers, historical-fiction

I didn't expect terribly much from this book, but I felt the need to read it because, well, someone gave me a copy and it's party about the labor movement during the Depression in a textile mill town. So I had no choice.

I wish it were a better book. It's nice summer reading, if you're not part of the "I only read happy books" crowd. It's not a happy book. But it never reaches tragedy, because, well, Shreve just can't get it there. She relies too much on archetypes to develop true characters for...more

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Apr 22, 2008 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars

Set in the early depression era somewhere on the East Coast, the novel follows Honora and Sexton Beecher from the beginning of their marriage. They moved into a large deserted old house on the beach and threw themselves into making it habitable with mostly sweat equity and little money. Sexton is away every week because of his job as travelling salesman and Honora lives a quiet but very structured life. She walks frequently on the lonely beach and collects colorful bits of sea glass.

When the ow...more

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Sep 12, 2007 Christina Kirby rated it 5 of 5 stars

A Southwest Airlines flight attendant gave me this book when she saw me reading another Shreve novel and said this was the author's best work yet. She was right!

Some Anita Shreve novels grab you from the start and don't let you go, while others are nearly impossible to get into. Sea Glass is the former.

The plot and the characters are captivating, and the book provides a great history lesson on the early years of the labor movement in New England. I must say, I didn't know much about that topic...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Samantha rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the first Anita Shreve book I've read and I went into it knowing almost nothing about the plot. I really enjoyed it overall and would have given it 4 stars, but the ending bumped it down to a 3-star review for me. Normally I have trouble getting into books written in this style - where most of the interaction is outward and you aren't given much insight into the characters' minds. But this book is written beautifully and was very compelling.

However, the ending to me was a bit bizarre in...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Phyllis Sommers rated it 4 of 5 stars

Although I always find Anita Shreve's novels somewhat depressing, there's no denying that she produces extremely well-written and, in this and many other instances, mesmerizing stories. The year is 1929 as Honora and Sexton Beecher begin their life together as husband and wife. The home Sexton sets out to buy is somewhat beyond his means, but through a clever deception, he manages to secure a mortgage for the home, which is situated directly on the beach of a small New England town. In the town...more Although I always find Anita Shreve's novels somewhat depressing, there's no denying that she produces extremely well-written and, in this and many other instances, mesmerizing stories. The year is 1929 as Honora and Sexton Beecher begin their life together as husband and wife. The home Sexton sets out to buy is somewhat beyond his means, but through a clever deception, he manages to secure a mortgage for the home, which is situated directly on the beach of a small New England town. In the town itself, Ely Falls, most of the residents work at the town's clothing mills and live very menial, hard-working lives. Initially, Sexton sees himself above these people and, as a typewriter and business-machines salesman, he does, indeed, earn a better living than the mill workers. It is not long before Honora senses her husband's deceit and by Christmas of that year, all their dreams come crashing down on them. As the entire country is falling on bad times, the bank calls in the Beecher's home loan and Sexton loses his job. His deceit is discovered and, suddenly, he is relegated to taking a job at the mill, something upon which he'd looked down his nose only 6 short months ago.

The author focuses on 5 main characters, each of their stories told in separate chapters, all of their lives gradually coming to intertwine: Honora, a homemaker; Sexton; Vivien, a high-society neighbor who becomes Honora's friend; McDermott, a mill-worker and a leader of the strike that would soon come to pass; and Alfonse, a young, mill-working 12-year old who McDermott befriends and quickly grows to love and watch over.

Outside strike organizer, Louis M, enlists McDermott's help in gathering the unionized mill workers and attempting to expand their support-- to non-union workers -- for a strike calling for fairer wages. Sexton becomes a central figure in the organizing movement, when he offers his copy machine for the printing of daily newsletters. The beach house soon becomes a refuge and a great organizing venue, being that it is in an isolated location where they are not likely to be found. As the lives of the main characters come together in very interesting fashion and as the true historical depiction of the times unfolds, I found I couldn't wait to pick up reading where I left off each day. As with other Shreve novels, however, there is a haunting quality, from the very beginning, that transcends the tenor of the book. I find this somewhat off-putting each time I consider whether I want to read another Anita Shreve novel. So long as the reader recognizes that these novels are not light-hearted, fluffy reads, he/she will find that they are, most certainly, well worth reading.(less)

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Oct 06, 2012 Patti rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love this book. Sure, I don't get why sweet Honora married that prick Sexton but I've been known to do some dumb things to get why whistle wet (so to speak). But other than that...oh how I love this book! The setting couldn't be more perfect for a pro-labor girl like me: New England mills owned by the super rich who want to make their employees work 10 hour days with minimal breaks, only Sundays off, low pay, etc. The labor movement is bubbling at the mill (as it should) and is helped along by...more I love this book. Sure, I don't get why sweet Honora married that prick Sexton but I've been known to do some dumb things to get why whistle wet (so to speak). But other than that...oh how I love this book! The setting couldn't be more perfect for a pro-labor girl like me: New England mills owned by the super rich who want to make their employees work 10 hour days with minimal breaks, only Sundays off, low pay, etc. The labor movement is bubbling at the mill (as it should) and is helped along by a Communist organizer (who is wealthy, but one of the good wealthy ones...yes, there used to be those kids!). This is a time in history that I think often gets ignored in favor of the Great Depression and then World War 2. The way those folks in the mill had to work just blows my mind. They had absolutely no hope of anything better than standing at a loom for 10 hours, counting to make the time go by. Then they went to shitty, rat-infested mill housing, ate the shitty food prepared by a total bitch and then got up and did it all over again. Meantime, the super rich hoarded their money and played around all day. As I typed this, I realized that this is the situation that Mitt Romney & his ilk would like to see us in again, so please vote accordingly.

Anyway! To my surprise, I really liked Vivian. She was wealthy but at age 30, felt she was passed her prime. She hadn't married yet and was so desperately lonely. (I was delighted when her friend Dickie lost all of his money and had to go to work at a tie store! Should all the stingy, nasty rich people meet such a fate!) I don't know if Vivian really cared about the striking workers or not, but she really stepped up. Remember, she was a woman in the late 1920s/early 1930s and probably not used to speaking her mind like she did. And no matter what else, Vivian was a loyal friend.

If you are at all interested in this era, you have to at least give this book a try. It starts out pretty slow but picks up quickly. You may feel outraged* when you read about Honora's relatives getting hurt or killed because of a huge explosion or when you read about a widow with five kids who has to work the 10 hour night shift at the mill or the 12 year old boys who have to go to the mill because their fathers are dead or have taken off or the mill that makes you deaf in your 20s or the way the owners decide to suddenly speed up the mills without regard to safety...you will feel outraged and you will want to know what to do to stop this sort of bullshit from ever happening again. To that outrage, I say that you should vote very, very carefully.

*or, if you are a NeoCon, you will get a huge, raging boner.(less)

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Aug 07, 2012 Mary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who likes historical fiction

Recommended to Mary by: Bookmooch

Shelves: my-library, 1990-2009, 96-100, bookmooch, historical-fiction, paperback

It is a house on the beach that Honora doesn't mind renting. Despite its age and all its flaws, the old house is the perfect place to start off a new marriage. She and her husband, Sexton, throw themselves into fixing it up, just as they throw themselves into their new life together. While Honora fixes up the derelict house and searches for sea glass on the beach, Sexton risks everything they have to buy the house they both love.

Along with the entire population of America, Sexton is blindsided b...more

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May 13, 2012 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars

MY TAKE:
I enjoyed this book. I thought the flow of the story was very smooth, the characters fully fleshed and well developed, and the story line interesting. I liked that it was told from the perspective of several different characters, and I identified strongly with Honora. She did what she thought was right with her life, and followed her morals and her upbringing, but she was trapped in a marriage that was started with the best of intentions but just wasn’t right for her. They had definite h...more MY TAKE:
I enjoyed this book. I thought the flow of the story was very smooth, the characters fully fleshed and well developed, and the story line interesting. I liked that it was told from the perspective of several different characters, and I identified strongly with Honora. She did what she thought was right with her life, and followed her morals and her upbringing, but she was trapped in a marriage that was started with the best of intentions but just wasn’t right for her. They had definite hardships at the beginning of their marriage, which they worked through to the best of their abilities, building their home and their lives together, but Sexton wasn’t strong enough for her, and when she found McDermott, it was too late. I think part of that was because Honora and Sexton never really fell in love – their relationship was a natural progression of life and expectation – women are supposed to get married and start families, and Sexton showed an interest and persistence, and she just went along with it. I believe there was an attraction, but not a real love, and they didn’t have enough time to develop it before things began to go badly for Sexton and he couldn’t develop it. Sexton shouldn’t have kept secrets from Honora (re mortgage) – if she had known, they could have worked together on an alternative plan, instead of Sexton assuming all the responsibility and blame, which further deteriorated their marriage. I think he did it with good intentions, but his actions were thoughtless and selfish, believing Honora wasn’t strong enough or competent enough to help.

The size and the location of the home hithered their relationship as well – it affected them by isolation and debilitation. It separated them from the rest of the world, and buried them in exhaustion by trying to fix it. The location was also a primary factor in the union work – without this home, much of the work could not have been done, or would have been done more dangerously. Honora would not have made as many friends, or as much impact in as many lives as she did. I loved the relationship between Alphonse and McDermott. McDermott was a strong, moral father figure for Alphonse, and their relationship gave him something to look forward to, and hope. I think it was important to McDermott because it gave him something in life to care about, a reason to keep going on. I liked the friendship between Vivian and Honora, although I believe she started into it (and the union) because she was bored and was looking for something to entertain her. I believe that she developed a real friendship with Honora though (evidenced by them living together at the end).

Sea Glass – endurance – timelessness – treasure – peace.
(less)

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Dec 21, 2011 Rebecca rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: chicklit

Blah, another dated book that was just kind of lame. And dated. On all accounts. No only did it take place like 100 years ago, the writing style was dated too, which didn't help. But if you like that olde timey writing, then pick it up. Otherwise, I'll say right now, don't bother. So as you can tell, I didn't like that book all that much. In contained a cluster of characters that didn't do anything, but annoyed me. Took awhile to straighten everyone out. Typical, New England 1920's life. Some ri...more

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Jul 23, 2011 Wendy rated it 4 of 5 stars

New Hampshire, 1929, just before the Great Depression, newlyweds, Honora and Sexton Beecher, have moved into an abandoned beach house to fix it up and save for a house of their own. Sexton, an ambitious typewriter salesman, finds a way to take a loan to buy the house. However, he "has risked everything he owned on the eve of the single biggest economic disaster in American History."

Quillen McDermott, a loom fixer at the local mills, works hard to keep his younger brothers out of the mills. Alpho...more

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Jun 02, 2011 Lorin Cary rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a character-driven historical novel, set in Massachusetts as the country teeters on the verge of the Great Depression. The history provides a context, instead of a heavily stamped and consciously applied layer of material drawn from books. (Shreve has consulted books and includes a list of them at the rear of the novel.) The cast of characters are drawn from diverse backgrounds and classes (I hear Republican politicians screaming "class warfare" in the wings)and part of the beauty of the...more

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May 27, 2011 Linda Day rated it 4 of 5 stars

So, what did I think about "Sea Glass" ? I decided that I do not read enough Anita Shreve. Having also enjoyed "The Pilot's Wife" I am amazed I did not p/up another of her books until now !

Sea Glass is placed in one of my favorite genre's The Great Depression but it is not simply the "doing without/nearly starving" aspect of that time but is placed in a coastal town in New England during the unionization of Mill workers. Basically, the story centers on Honora, a bride of a few weeks, and the peo...more

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Apr 17, 2011 Joan Graham rated it 4 of 5 stars

By the time I read Sea Glass, I was on a quest to discover all books by this author. Anita Shreve has done something I find interesting: She has used the same house, a former convent perched on the New Hampshire shore, as the setting in several books from different historical periods. In this Depression era novel, the house's occupants are losing their footing because they have purchased the place on the eve of the country's financial collapse. Sexton's typewriter sales plummet after the crash,...more

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Apr 06, 2010 Cheryl rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book was a huge disapppointment when it comes to an Anita Shreve book.
I always love the way Anita Shreve writes about character interaction. Using her words, I can always picture exactly the way a person is moving, smiling, speaking, and how they are feeling. Maybe that's why I'm so addicted to her despite the fact that half of her books are disappointing.
Each chapter is told from the point of view of a different character, and eventually their lives begin to intersect. It begins in the su...more This book was a huge disapppointment when it comes to an Anita Shreve book.
I always love the way Anita Shreve writes about character interaction. Using her words, I can always picture exactly the way a person is moving, smiling, speaking, and how they are feeling. Maybe that's why I'm so addicted to her despite the fact that half of her books are disappointing.
Each chapter is told from the point of view of a different character, and eventually their lives begin to intersect. It begins in the summer of 1929, with a character who has just married a man she barely knows. The impending financial crises loomed over the narrative for me, and it does crush some of the characters, more or less, but it is more positive than grim. It was a clever story of several persons coming together during a mill strike in 1929/30. At the centre of the story are Honora, bank clerk and Sexton, typewriter salesman who meet and marry at the start of the great depression. The love and hardship they face together is beautifully told by Anita Shreve in her very visual style. We are introduced in this way to McDermott, mill worker and Alphonse the young boy he has chosen to protect, Vivian, wealthy socialite an unlikely group but whose stories all link and merge. There are also a few chapters written as letters from Honora’s mother Alice that helps to link the background information together.

Set in New Hampshire during the troubled years of 1929/30, Sea Glass is about the coming together of a motley collection of people in troubled times. It was a strange time for them all as although the strikes and Wall Street crash were affecting them all they were happy that summer of 1930, in their innocence not knowing how disastrously it would all end. As the reader I certainly had no inkling of how things were going to turn out, for me the sign of a well told story. A heartbreaking and vividly descriptive insight into the far reaching consequences of The Wall Street crash and the mill strikes.

I also found absolutely fascinating the descriptions of Sea Glass, those colourful shards of glass smoothed by the sea that one sometimes comes across on beaches. Anita Shreve cleverly uses Honora’s collection of these shards as a link throughout.
The heroine of this book, Honora, is a wonderful character. we meet her as she embarks on a new marriage to a slightly swarmy typewriter salesman in the pre-depression 20's in a small coastal town in NH. The depression hits, and her quiet, muted efficiency as a housewife becomes a beacon of stability and honor as the people around her become involved in labor strikes and violence. She collects pieces of sea glass from the beach - ones that have been worn smooth from their time in the ocean, but...more The heroine of this book, Honora, is a wonderful character. we meet her as she embarks on a new marriage to a slightly swarmy typewriter salesman in the pre-depression 20's in a small coastal town in NH. The depression hits, and her quiet, muted efficiency as a housewife becomes a beacon of stability and honor as the people around her become involved in labor strikes and violence. She collects pieces of sea glass from the beach - ones that have been worn smooth from their time in the ocean, but that have become so strong they never break, and that glass becomes the metaphor for Honora in the maelstrom of the times. Told from the rotating perspective of 5 different characters. Written in a quiet and muted literary style that matches Honora's key attributes, yet the novel becomes
There was one passage early on in the book, as she is just getting to know her future husband.

Though there were touching moments in this book that I enjoyed, I felt like the plot was SO boring for such an important time.I really had a hard time finishing this book (which is extremely rare) and it fact I skimmed the last 50 pages it was so bad.Didn't really grab my attention. I kept waiting for something big to happen, by the time it did it was too late.(less)

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Oct 02, 2009 Alison Morgan rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is the reason that whenever I walk on the beach, I am walking stooped along the shore, searching for little bits of beach glass in the sand. So far I have collected two bowlfuls. I don't have a big white platter like Honora does in this book, but a bowl full of beach glass is very satisfying to run your hands through (don't worry, it is so dulled by the sand and the waves that it's smooth and curved, not sharp anymore) . . . And although so far I've mostly found green, white, and brown...more

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Jun 13, 2009 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

http://fromichelle.blogspot.com/2009/...

Sea Glass by Anita Shreve is a narrative novel that unfolds during the tight times of the Depression. It highlights the lives of two newlyweds and those that encompass their tight, but varied circle of friends, co-workers, and comrades.

It's a truly gripping account of the nitty gritty life of people trying to make it in a time of bread lines and strikes. From the couple just starting out to the privileged elite, the effects of the times touched all.

Sexton,...more

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Apr 20, 2009 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 09, 2010 Wendy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Love this line in the book when the main character Honora meets her prospective husband and is commenting on his less than perfect appearance...."Honora laid these flaws aside as one might overlook a small stain on a beautifully embroidered tablecloth one wanted to buy, only later to discover, when it was on the table and all the guests were seated around it, that the stain had become a beacon, while the beautiful embroidery lay hidden in everybody's laps."

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Aug 23, 2010 Noel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fast-easy-read, historical-fiction, lit-and-fiction

This was a quick read, but not very satisfying. It dealt with the depression and the labor strikes of New England mill towns in the 1930s as seen through the eyes of several narrators. It took me a while to figure out all the different narrators and I felt that the book didn't come together until around page 200 or so. Honora and Sexton are newlyweds and very young; they live in a cottage by the sea; Sexton makes a living selling typewriters and Honora is quite the perfect housewife. Things chan...more

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Oct 16, 2011 Kendra rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a fast and easy ready set in 1929 New England during the start of the depression. Our characters including a young newlywed couple, an 11 year old boy, a young 20-something man who has worked in the mills all his life, a 30-something wealthy woman, and a few communists to round out the group. The very unlikely people come together and their lives change forever.

It was a bit confusing getting in to the book because each chapter (maybe only a page or two long) switches between characters...more

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Dec 23, 2009 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found this book to be a sad description of the depression and factory strikes of late 1920s and early 1930s. Some of the book seems relevant to the economic strife of current times. However, it provides perspective into more difficult lives and hardships that I can only imagine. Honora is a young girl who marries Sexton. He is somewhat less than reputable. He suffers in the depression, losing his sales job and begins to work in a textile factory. The perspective of the story is very interestin...more

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Feb 21, 2011 Vivian rated it 3 of 5 stars

I've always enjoyed Anita Shreve's novels, beginning with "The Pilot's Wife," and through "Where or When," which haunted me for quite some time. And that seems to be the theme of all her novels that I've read so far: a passionate love, in some form, which is allowed to spark and maybe blossom for a very short period of time, and which is then thwarted either by death or other impossible circumstances. Which of course is very sad and moving, but leaves you wanting more. Which I suppose is how her...more

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Jun 16, 2011 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I listened to "Sea Glass" on audio CD and enjoyed the reader and the story. Set in a mill town in the late 1920's when stores were closing and mill workers were out of work. Times were very hard and many people facing eviction and long waits in food lines and soup kitchens. Unions were making strong inroads into changing the faces of workers in these town but first there was a price to pay.

I have always loved collecting bits of rock and shells and sea glass washed smooth by the ocean, rivers an...more

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Dec 07, 2010 Kirsty Darbyshire added it

Anita Shreve is one of those authors who I love to pick up and ponder over in the bookshop. I love to buy her books and have them sitting waiting to be read. But for no good reason it seems to take me ages to get around to actually reading the books. It feels like the books will be work to read. I don't know where I get this from because when I do eventually pick the books up to read I find them absorbing and fascinating reads. This one was no exception.

I was surprised to find the story set in

...more

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Jul 28, 2008 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Each chapter is told focusing on a different character and it is very interesting to see how they all end up tying together. If you have read Fortune's Rocks by the same author (which is her best work in my option) you will find that this book takes place there, 30 years later, as a young couple buys a house that was once the home for unmarried pregnant girls from the earlier book....

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May 27, 2010 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this quick read by Anita Shreve. It was a good book to follow her other book, Fortune's Rocks, as the story and characters in the book are mentioned in Sea Glass.

The fictional town on Ely Falls (where both Fortune's Rocks and and Sea Glass took place) is a place to fall hopeless in love with the wrong man. Both books touch on this storyline and I thought that was interesting. The characters in the story are likable and the chapters are divided up into their unique stories.

I like how S...more

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Jul 15, 2009 Donna Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: re-read

This is one of my favorite books by Anita Shreve. The characters are wonderful, especially Honora. She shows such strength in the middle of the adversity that she faces. Every time I have read this book I find myself wondering how she managed to marry Sexton Beecher (why?) He is incredibly dishosnest and just downright shady. I wish Shreve had spent more time developing some of the other characters and the story about the mill strikes. I also hated the way it ended. I would have loved to know ho...more

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About Anita Shreve

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 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). After graduating from Tufts University, she taught high school for a number of years in and around Boston. In the middle of her last year, she quit (something that, as a parent, she finds appalling now) to start writing. "I had this panicky sensation that it was now or never."

Joking that she could wallpaper her bathroom with rejections from magazines for her short stories ("I really could have," she says), she published her early work in literary journals. One of these stories, "Past the Island, Drifting," won an O. Henry prize. Despite this accolade, she quickly learned that one couldn't make a living writing short fiction. Switching to journalism, Shreve traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, where she lived for three years, working as a journalist for an African magazine. One of her novels, The Last Time They Met, contains bits and pieces from her time in Africa.

Returning to the United States, Shreve was a writer and editor for a number of magazines in New York. Later, when she began her family, she turned to freelancing, publishing in the New York Times Magazine, New York magazine and dozens of others. In 1989, she published her first novel, Eden Close. Since then she has written 12 other novels, among them The Weight of Water, The Pilot's Wife, The Last Time They Met, A Wedding in December, and Body Surfing.

In 1998, Shreve received the PEN/L. L. Winship Award and the New England Book Award for fiction. In 1999, she received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey, and The Pilot's Wife became the 25th selection of Oprah's Book Club and an international bestseller. In April 2002, CBS aired the film version of The Pilot's Wife, starring Christine Lahti, and in fall 2002, The Weight of Water, starring Elizabeth Hurley and Sean Penn, was released in movie theaters.

Still in love with the novel form, Shreve writes only in that genre. "The best analogy I can give to describe writing for me is daydreaming," she says. "A certain amount of craft is brought to bear, but the experience feels very dreamlike."

Shreve is married to a man she met when she was 13. She has two children and three stepchildren, and in the last eight years has made tuition payments to seven colleges and universities.(less)

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/96081.Sea_Glass?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1191349076l/96081.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/96081.Sea_Glass?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Sea Glass by Anita Shreve[/url]

Sea Glass

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