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These Granite Islands
An intimate story of friendship, a portrait of marriage, and a glimpse into the depths of loss - set in 1930's USA.
On her deathbed, Isobel—mother, wife, and hat maker—recalls the haunting and fateful summer of 1936 when her world was transformed. After her husband Victor takes their sons away for the summer to a remote island, Isobel meets Cathryn, a woman who will forever change the way she looks at life. An intimate story of friendship, a portrait of marriage, and a glimpse into the depths of loss, the events of this summer become the prism that refracts the essence of Isobel's life.
On her deathbed, Isobel—mother, wife, and hat maker—recalls the haunting and fateful summer of 1936 when her world was transformed. After her husband Victor takes their sons away for the summer to a remote island, Isobel meets Cathryn, a woman who will forever change the way she looks at life. An intimate story of friendship, a portrait of marriage, and a glimpse into the depths of loss, the events of this summer become the prism that refracts the essence of Isobel's life.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
43 people are currently reading
1388 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Stonich
16 books245 followersThe author of internationally acclaimed and award-winning novels "Laurentian Divide" and "Vacationland", the first two volumes in her Northern trilogy. Her earlier novels, "These Granite Islands" and "The Ice Chorus", left their marks on readers around the world, having been translated into eleven languages - most recently into Czech. Visit her web site for reviews and info. Sarah's memoir, 'Shelter: Off The Grid In The Mostly Magnetic North', winner of the NE MN Book Award is now available in paperback.
Her feminist fiction Fishing with RayAnne trilogy debuted with "Fishing!" and will be followed next year by "Reeling". Sarah writes and lives in Minnesota with her husband, Jon. For more visit sarahstonich.com and like her FB page: Sarah Stonich Bookshelf
Her feminist fiction Fishing with RayAnne trilogy debuted with "Fishing!" and will be followed next year by "Reeling". Sarah writes and lives in Minnesota with her husband, Jon. For more visit sarahstonich.com and like her FB page: Sarah Stonich Bookshelf
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 169 reviews
May 3, 2013
What a gorgeously understated story. Books like this are usually overlooked in favor of those with more flash and dazzle, and that's unfortunate. There is so much more care and skill in Sarah Stonich's writing than in those slapdash bestsellers.
The author was an artist before teaching herself to write, and I was taken with her use of color throughout the story, and her artist's way of seeing that infuses every page.
The book is very much character driven, and I wanted to spend even more time with the affable, comforting Victor, his wife Isobel, and their sweet little daughter Louisa. And also Isobel's friend Cathryn---disturbed and reckless, but also enthusiastic and generous and prone to grand gestures of friendship.
[4.5 stars]
The author was an artist before teaching herself to write, and I was taken with her use of color throughout the story, and her artist's way of seeing that infuses every page.
The book is very much character driven, and I wanted to spend even more time with the affable, comforting Victor, his wife Isobel, and their sweet little daughter Louisa. And also Isobel's friend Cathryn---disturbed and reckless, but also enthusiastic and generous and prone to grand gestures of friendship.
[4.5 stars]
June 20, 2011
Told through a present day, almost death bed narrative and flashbacks, we go back through the story of two women and their friendship (there is a little mystery here, but it was kind of obvious), plus their lives with their families. It does have a kind of Notebook feel (not really my style). There is some really lovely prose, the setting was also engaging, but I just found myself bored at only 100 pages in. To be honest, I probably should have put it down as I just did not feel any emotion for the characters in this book, but as there is some great writing I persevered (and persevere is not what I want to do with a book) and read through to the end.
May 11, 2012
I thought it was great! I almost quit reading in the beginning, but something made me pick it back up and finish it (in 1 day). All the previous reviews will tell you about the story, but I'll mention what it was - a life and love story of a talented woman who lived to be very old. I'm not sure why this book hasn't made best seller lists. It touched on those things that were important in life, the little things like "using the edge of your nightgown to wipe a nursing baby's mouth. I thought it would be sad and perhaps depressing, but it wasn't; I didn't cry until the very, very end - and those were more tears of joy. As I said, I thought it was a great book and I would recommend it to anyone over 40.
January 27, 2014
The premise--a woman on her deathbed obsessing over a friendship formed decades earlier in a small Iron Range town and her collusion in said friend's disastrous scandal--seems a bit Lifetimey, but the descriptions of family life, especially the ebb and flow between husband and wife, ring true.
April 9, 2011
Thank you Jeannette for reviewing this book a very long time ago. It has been sitting on my shelf - a jewel that I am glad that I finally picked up after it collected too much dust.
The author has written a beautiful novel that captures life in various stages of its journey: courting, marriage after children, friendship, loss and longevity. The story takes place primarily in the 1930s in a small town in Northern Minnesota. However, the author advances the story by using the main character's memories as an elderly woman nearing death. A method that had tears in my eyes at the time because I could imagine that scene so vividly - a mother telling her son about things he didn't know in her life.
The primary story involves a summer friendship between Isobel and Catherine, a woman staying in the town due to her husband's short consulting job at the town's mine. Isobel is quiet, serene and a mother of three. Catherine is her exact opposite - vivacious, impulsive and childless. They form a deep friendship, reflecting the importance of having a good friend to confide worries and fears to. But, what happens when a friend asks you to do something immoral? Isobel is faced with this dilemma and the outcome is both expected and yet still took me by surprise.
But the book has multiple layers, and a strong secondary story is about Isobel and her marriage to Victor. As with Catherine, Isobel and Victor are opposites - Victor is outgoing and brave. Isobel is fearful. Their marriage is traced from the early loving stages, to the fateful summer when Isobel meets Catherine.
Two women, opposite personalities, opposite marriages, one tragedy. This was a wonderful book - a story that just hugs you. Highly recommend this book.
August 28, 2011
These Granite Islands, by Sarah Stonich was one of those books that I developed a love hate relationship with. I really didn't want to continue reading it all after the first 50 pages or so because you knew this was gonna be a sad story,but I couldn't put it down. Isabel endeared herself to me because of her hang-ups, her worrysome spirit, and then of course the results of having a stroke, the horribleness of not knowing what is really now and what is in the past. But then this confused me some too.... It struck a chord with me because of my mom's stroke. But I could identify in a weird way with Izzy. These Granite Islands is a grippng first novel about a woman who, on her deathbed, recalls the haunting and fateful summer of 1936, a summer that forever changed her life.... Isobel has been wife, mother, hatmaker. And at the end of her 99 years, she's lost 2 children, her husband and a couple that certainly impacted her life, challenging her loyalty and what she would consider proper with their passionate love affair, and then they just disappeared. This is a haunting tragedy of loss and thus is was a difficult read for me.
Sarah sent me this book and I told her that I would give it an honest review. I give it a 4.3 on a 5 pt. scale. Sarah writes beautifully
Strange how you know of something all your life and only find at the end there has been a better word for it all along. The syllables bumped pleasantly against her dentures as she read aloud, 'Tintinnabulation: The sound of the pealing of bells.' " pg. 29
and really engulfs the reader into the story. But maybe that's what bothered me so much, I FELT the hurts with Isabel. Kudos, Sarah. You've got a winner!
please check out: http://www.sarahstonich.com
Sarah sent me this book and I told her that I would give it an honest review. I give it a 4.3 on a 5 pt. scale. Sarah writes beautifully
Strange how you know of something all your life and only find at the end there has been a better word for it all along. The syllables bumped pleasantly against her dentures as she read aloud, 'Tintinnabulation: The sound of the pealing of bells.' " pg. 29
and really engulfs the reader into the story. But maybe that's what bothered me so much, I FELT the hurts with Isabel. Kudos, Sarah. You've got a winner!
please check out: http://www.sarahstonich.com
November 20, 2010
This was a really beautiful story of a woman's life. Isobel is a lovely, likeable, and heartbreaking character. This book was beautifully written -- simple and yet not simple, so lovely in imagery and emotion. The location, the town, the scenery, were as much a part of the story as the people. I cried at the end, and that's something I rarely do. It really hit a nerve. I'm not even sure where I heard of this book, but I'm glad I did. By the end of the book I wanted so much to go spend some time in that millinery shop with Isobel, Cathryn and Louisa. It seemed like a peaceful haven. Beautiful.
July 1, 2014
I really liked about 3/4 of this book. I loved reading about Isobel and her relationships with her family members and with Cathryn. I have to say the last bit of the story dragged for me. It seemed to take a long time to "end." Having grown up near the area this book was set, it was fun to read about places I've been. Overall, I really liked this book.
July 16, 2015
I loved this book so much. It was my first book for the vacation and so perfect to read up north. After this and Vacationland, Sarah Stonich is just my favorite.
November 5, 2019
This was Sarah Stonich's first novel. In it, she tells the story of Isobel, who at 99 is near death. The story moves between the hospital scene and then Isobel's remembrances of her life that she is sharing with her son, Thomas. There is a haziness to her memories and things often aren't settled in the stories, so this movement between times works quite well. Isobel talks about her husband, Victor, and the two children that have already died, but mainly she focuses on a summer when Victor took their two sons to camp out on a nearby island. Meanwhile, in 1936, Isobel stays home with their daughter, Louisa and works at her hat shop. A visiting tourist, Cathryn, offers to help and they become good friends. Most of the book is about their friendship and what happened during that summer. It is a very well-written and interesting story.
August 29, 2020
A beautifully written story of a 99 year old woman on her death bed looking back over her life. The ups and downs. The mysteries and the loves. I bought it used for a dollar thinking it was about Scotland. It wasn’t- yet I wasn’t at all disappointed.
March 4, 2018
6-word review: Wonderfully crafted; true friendship, true love.
January 23, 2019
Three good books in a row by Stonich. A+
February 13, 2024
Seriously loved this book. Beautifully written. Fell in love with the characters. I wish I could read this book again for the first time
July 29, 2014
The story is intimate, and the author intensely aware of what makes a life fully lived, from the sensations and sights to the books and ideas, to the depths of love—all loves, not just romantic love. It isn’t always pretty—age and disability, grief and death, are as vivid as the shores of the Great Lakes and the life and work of a milliner and a tailor in a small town. Isobel loves her husband, children, friends, work, garden, and poetry, and these feelings and experiences are rendered in words that made me feel as if I had lived her long life when I finished the book. The locations, the various times in history, the moments that make up a friendship and a marriage are told with compelling beauty and clarity.
The novel’s structure, moving back and forth in time, is effective and skillfully handled. Flashbacks and time shifts like this seldom work, in my opinion, but Stonich crafts her story in a way that the technique is perfectly fitted to it. If told in a conventional, linear narrative, this book wouldn’t have worked. The occasional mix of dreams into the story was less effective. The dreams seemed to too literal and obvious, like created extensions of the plot, except for the one that shows intuitive knowledge of an event. (Other readers may question that one also, but since I have those kinds of dreams myself, I know that they can be realistic.)
Isobel is hard to understand at first, but I came to appreciate her, and readily understood why she loved her husband Victor and her friend Cathryn, and to feel the nuances of their relationships. I approached this book with no expectations. All I knew is that my book club had chosen it because one of our members works for the Forest Service and she had to have us read a book that promised a passionate affair with a forest ranger. The ranger turned out to be important, and yet I found him to be the palest character in this colorful story, his love-at-first-sight passion the least believable part (for this admittedly unromantic reader) of a powerful book.
The novel’s structure, moving back and forth in time, is effective and skillfully handled. Flashbacks and time shifts like this seldom work, in my opinion, but Stonich crafts her story in a way that the technique is perfectly fitted to it. If told in a conventional, linear narrative, this book wouldn’t have worked. The occasional mix of dreams into the story was less effective. The dreams seemed to too literal and obvious, like created extensions of the plot, except for the one that shows intuitive knowledge of an event. (Other readers may question that one also, but since I have those kinds of dreams myself, I know that they can be realistic.)
Isobel is hard to understand at first, but I came to appreciate her, and readily understood why she loved her husband Victor and her friend Cathryn, and to feel the nuances of their relationships. I approached this book with no expectations. All I knew is that my book club had chosen it because one of our members works for the Forest Service and she had to have us read a book that promised a passionate affair with a forest ranger. The ranger turned out to be important, and yet I found him to be the palest character in this colorful story, his love-at-first-sight passion the least believable part (for this admittedly unromantic reader) of a powerful book.
July 22, 2013
I've had this book on my shelves for over 10 years. It was great to finally read it.
Isobel Howard is bedridden in a St. Paul hospital, suffering from the aftermath of a stroke. Failing physically but still mentally sharp at 100 years old, she begins to recount the events in her life to her only living son, Thomas. The plot alternates between her present situation and her past, a past that Thomas knows little or nothing about.
It's 1936 in Cypress, Minnesota and young Isobel is at an emotional crossroads in her married life. Her husband, Victor, has purchased an island without telling her and taken their two sons camping on it for the summer. As she and her daughter, Louisa, work to create enough space in Victor's tailor shop to accommodate her new millinery business, they meet lovely, disturbed Cathryn Malloy, wife of a mine manager. Cathryn helps Isobel get the new business off of the ground. The two quickly become close friends.
Cathryn, as it turns out, is having an affair with a young forest ranger, Jack Reese. She confesses to Isobel, not realizing that Louisa is in the room and has heard every word. Isobel is drawn into the couple's clandestine activities, serving as lookout during their meetings on one of the islands of the title. She even overcomes her paralyzing fear of water in order to paddle out in a canoe and watch for Cathryn's husband, Liam. As the summer passes, Cathryn's strange moods become darker and Jack becomes more desperate to find a means of escape for them both. Events take a tragic turn, leaving Isobel devastated and the town in an uproar.
If I have a criticism of this otherwise excellent novel, it's that the ending is given away rather early in the story. It was also a little bit predictable. Still, it was good enough to overcome these issues. I still think it's worth five starts.
Isobel Howard is bedridden in a St. Paul hospital, suffering from the aftermath of a stroke. Failing physically but still mentally sharp at 100 years old, she begins to recount the events in her life to her only living son, Thomas. The plot alternates between her present situation and her past, a past that Thomas knows little or nothing about.
It's 1936 in Cypress, Minnesota and young Isobel is at an emotional crossroads in her married life. Her husband, Victor, has purchased an island without telling her and taken their two sons camping on it for the summer. As she and her daughter, Louisa, work to create enough space in Victor's tailor shop to accommodate her new millinery business, they meet lovely, disturbed Cathryn Malloy, wife of a mine manager. Cathryn helps Isobel get the new business off of the ground. The two quickly become close friends.
Cathryn, as it turns out, is having an affair with a young forest ranger, Jack Reese. She confesses to Isobel, not realizing that Louisa is in the room and has heard every word. Isobel is drawn into the couple's clandestine activities, serving as lookout during their meetings on one of the islands of the title. She even overcomes her paralyzing fear of water in order to paddle out in a canoe and watch for Cathryn's husband, Liam. As the summer passes, Cathryn's strange moods become darker and Jack becomes more desperate to find a means of escape for them both. Events take a tragic turn, leaving Isobel devastated and the town in an uproar.
If I have a criticism of this otherwise excellent novel, it's that the ending is given away rather early in the story. It was also a little bit predictable. Still, it was good enough to overcome these issues. I still think it's worth five starts.
October 8, 2011
These Granite Islands, by Sarah Stonich was one of those books that I developed a love hate relationship with. I really didn't want to continue reading it all after the first 50 pages or so because you knew this was gonna be a sad story,but I couldn't put it down. Isabel endeared herself to me because of her hang-ups, her worrysome spirit, and then of course the results of having a stroke, the horribleness of not knowing what is really now and what is in the past. But then this confused me some too.... It struck a chord with me because of my mom's stroke. But I could identify in a weird way with Izzy. These Granite Islands is a grippng first novel about a woman who, on her deathbed, recalls the haunting and fateful summer of 1936, a summer that forever changed her life.... Isobel has been wife, mother, hatmaker. And at the end of her 99 years, she's lost 2 children, her husband and a couple that certainly impacted her life, challenging her loyalty and what she would consider proper with their passionate love affair, and then they just disappeared. This is a haunting tragedy of loss and thus is was a difficult read for me.
Sarah sent me this book and I told her that I would give it an honest review. I give it a 4.3 on a 5 pt. scale. Sarah writes beautifully .
Kudos, Sarah. You've got a winner!
Sarah sent me this book and I told her that I would give it an honest review. I give it a 4.3 on a 5 pt. scale. Sarah writes beautifully .
Kudos, Sarah. You've got a winner!
August 8, 2021
These Granite Islands is the story of Isobel, aged 99 as she recalls her life while in the hospital after a stroke. Initially we get the impression it will be a distinct breakdown of her life starting in 1936 through present, but that is not the case. It took a bit of time to adjust to the back and forth in time (sometimes in a single paragraph) but once that is done, the novel reads smoothly.
Isobel's recollections center on the summer where she meets Cathryn, a wealthy woman who is planted in Isobel's town (located in the Iron Range of MN) while her husband works with management at the local mine. Cathryn is at first just what Isobel needs to get herself back on track as the confident woman she knows she is, but soon, Cathryn's actions change how Isobel feels.
During the present, Thomas, her youngest child (aged 70), sits by her side, listens to her stories and offers his remembrances of that summer.
I know there are a lot of these sorts of reflective novels in the reading world these days; however, I still enjoy them.
Isobel's recollections center on the summer where she meets Cathryn, a wealthy woman who is planted in Isobel's town (located in the Iron Range of MN) while her husband works with management at the local mine. Cathryn is at first just what Isobel needs to get herself back on track as the confident woman she knows she is, but soon, Cathryn's actions change how Isobel feels.
During the present, Thomas, her youngest child (aged 70), sits by her side, listens to her stories and offers his remembrances of that summer.
I know there are a lot of these sorts of reflective novels in the reading world these days; however, I still enjoy them.
May 4, 2009
From her hospital bed, 99 year old Isobel Howard is remembering her life, especially the summer of 1936. That was summer that she met Cathryn, a Chicago heiress, beautiful and artistic, who is spending the summer in Cypress, Minnesota, the mining town where Isobel and her family live. Isobel's husband, Victor (a tailor), has taken their two boys to spend the summer on the island that he's purchased, and Isobel is alone with her shy daughter, Louisa.
Cathryn stumbles upon Isobel in the tailor shop, where she's returned to her love of hatmaking, and they quickly become friends. Cathryn's husband owns the local mine and she is in need of a diversion. Isobel is intrigued with the exotic, cosmopolitan Cathryn, who quickly begins to lend her artistic talent to Isobel's hats. When Cathryn begins an affair with a forest ranger, Isobel becomes involved as their lookout. But, as the reader knows early on, this will end in tragedy.
Cathryn stumbles upon Isobel in the tailor shop, where she's returned to her love of hatmaking, and they quickly become friends. Cathryn's husband owns the local mine and she is in need of a diversion. Isobel is intrigued with the exotic, cosmopolitan Cathryn, who quickly begins to lend her artistic talent to Isobel's hats. When Cathryn begins an affair with a forest ranger, Isobel becomes involved as their lookout. But, as the reader knows early on, this will end in tragedy.
February 9, 2023
The stab in my heart and the tears that started flowing when I turned the last page!!! This was AMAZING! The whole entire novel was so beautifully written, so artistically woven together, that it was as if I was looking into an intricate painting and noticing more and more details over time.
This is my second book I’ve finished in my great return to my love of reading endeavor and I still am crying while writing this review. I’m sad that this is only the second book I’ve read this year because now I’m afraid I am going to compare any other book I read to this one! It’s going to be hard to let this story go…
Bravo to the author, the beautiful artist of prose. I feel like I got to know your soul through your beautiful expression of words. I will be looking for more!! Thank you!
Five stars and then some!
This is my second book I’ve finished in my great return to my love of reading endeavor and I still am crying while writing this review. I’m sad that this is only the second book I’ve read this year because now I’m afraid I am going to compare any other book I read to this one! It’s going to be hard to let this story go…
Bravo to the author, the beautiful artist of prose. I feel like I got to know your soul through your beautiful expression of words. I will be looking for more!! Thank you!
Five stars and then some!
June 18, 2020
The book was the haunting story of an elderly woman's life. She outlived her husband and two of her children but always wondered what happened to one of her friends who disappeared during a forest fire. As she relived her life's memories with her remaining son, he vowed he would find out what happened to her friend and did.
As an elderly lady awaits her last days, she remembers her life and relates stories for her son. She never knew what happened to her friend Cathryn, who was having an affair with a forest ranger and was distraught over the hurt she was causing her husband and her friend Isobel. They disappeared during a forest fire but no bodies were ever found. Isobel always wondered where Cathryn and Jack were. Her son Thomas found out and gave her the info
As an elderly lady awaits her last days, she remembers her life and relates stories for her son. She never knew what happened to her friend Cathryn, who was having an affair with a forest ranger and was distraught over the hurt she was causing her husband and her friend Isobel. They disappeared during a forest fire but no bodies were ever found. Isobel always wondered where Cathryn and Jack were. Her son Thomas found out and gave her the info
June 5, 2012
Stonich beautifully wove together the past and the present to tell the tale of the summer of 1936. In a small mining town in Northern Minnesota Isobel befriended the elegant and tumultuous Cathryn. Isobel was then drawn into Cathryn's summer love affair with the handsome Jack. She was their sentinel all summer until one fateful day. Isobel did not show up one day out of spite and that was the day that Cathryn and Jack disappeared.
The fast and deep connection between Isobel and Cathryn stayed with Isobel throughout the rest of her life, even in Cathryn's absence. It was amazing to find out that her most vivid dream of Jack and Cathryn's final resting place was dead on.
This book was haunting, romantic, and real.
The fast and deep connection between Isobel and Cathryn stayed with Isobel throughout the rest of her life, even in Cathryn's absence. It was amazing to find out that her most vivid dream of Jack and Cathryn's final resting place was dead on.
This book was haunting, romantic, and real.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2009
This is probably one of the best books I read this summer. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's one part mystery, one part family saga, one part memoir, several parts character study, and just plain well-written. Every one of the characters is clearly drawn. None of the story was predictable from what went before. It plays with time, and memory and relationships, along with situations that have the power to change our lives--situations we don't even realize will have the impact they do, perhaps until it's too late. I'd recommend this to all my friends who enjoy a good story and lyrical writing.
June 21, 2015
Even though it took 10 months to read - I did like this story told in flashback form. The story of the Howard family is often warm and often tragic. There is one spot in the book that I hope will remain with me for a long time. She talks about how scared a mother is as she watches her infant breathe at night. She said strangers or any other horror film scenarios don't scare her ... it is the irregular breathing of her baby that scares her the most. The thing I truly liked about this book is that except for Cathryn - most of the characters are very real with real thoughts that most people have - they are not larger than life with truly glamorous jobs living large.
November 19, 2018
First novel. Wow! Her writing is like watching a movie; you can see it all in your mind’s eye. She evidently is an artist. Well evidenced by her description of color and atmosphere. What a gem of a book! It doesn’t shout in your ear as much as whisper the events.
It’s about friendship between women, one of them fighting despair and desperation with huge hunks of happiness in between. It’s about love and marriage and all its’ messy complications. It’s about loss and getting through the sludge of sorry days. But there’s hope there, too. And the sweet surrender of moving on in time.
It’s about friendship between women, one of them fighting despair and desperation with huge hunks of happiness in between. It’s about love and marriage and all its’ messy complications. It’s about loss and getting through the sludge of sorry days. But there’s hope there, too. And the sweet surrender of moving on in time.
May 6, 2011
Sarah Stonich, a Minnesota Writer, tells the story of Isobel and her memories of one particular year-1936 that is remarkable and haunting. Told in flashbacks between Isobel's present state and back to 1936. The writing is excellent and this is one of theses stories that should gets lots of attention because Stonich never misses the wonderful details which make an observant reader gush; "A tear fell them to the pebbly sand, where it was taken by the lazy tongue of surf. One drop of a woman's sorrow or happiness pulled away, absorbed into the grey song of a glacial lake."
June 24, 2014
While reading this book, I'll admit, there were times when I thought I couldn't go on.
Not because it was poorly written, but sometimes I found it difficult to follow and often wondered where it was all leading.
By the end of the book I was glad I had stuck with it and was wiping tears away.
I suddenly understood my grandmother so much better...
If you're thinking of reading this book, give it a try. It's often nebulous and a bit vague but you'll understand why as you continue. Do as I did and stay with it. It will reward you in the end.
Not because it was poorly written, but sometimes I found it difficult to follow and often wondered where it was all leading.
By the end of the book I was glad I had stuck with it and was wiping tears away.
I suddenly understood my grandmother so much better...
If you're thinking of reading this book, give it a try. It's often nebulous and a bit vague but you'll understand why as you continue. Do as I did and stay with it. It will reward you in the end.
September 1, 2020
I read this book at the beginning of the pandemic back in March. I was so happy to get my hands on some books before the library in Phoenix was shutdown for quarantine. This was one of three titles I chose as a guest patron while on vacation. I chose it, not really knowing anything about it. It was a good choice! A very evocative tale and love story, that carries you back in time through the eyes of the lead character. It reminded me of a good old black and white movie. It was a love story and a bit of a mystery too.
December 17, 2020
From one of my favorite Minnesota authors Sarah Stonich. Read over the summer while I was up north on the Gunflint trail and I could imagine literally being in this small town on a lake with the characters. This book is hauntingly beautiful, the writing is exquisite and I loved it. Stonich's books tend to get overlooked way too often, which is unfortunate for readers, they don't know what beautiful and unique stories they are missing. Do your self a favor and read one of Stonich's books. My favorite is Vacationland but this one is great too.
August 23, 2022
This story read like poetry for me. It is clearly a woman's book, such a rich story of Isobel's life, inner and outer so beautifully told. Sarah Stonich's writing is lyrical and her descriptions are rich. She draws you a portrait in words. She describes something, a look, light on water, a feeling and you immediately know it from Isobel's perspective. Some phrases and paragraphs are worth lingering over. Set in 1930's era northern Minnesota, it captures a simpler time and the story line includes family, relationships, friendships, forbidden love and mystery. I loved this book!
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