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Fortune's Rocks
Fortune's Rocks by Anita Shreve is set in 1899 and tells the tale of a summer affair between a 15-year-old girl and a 41-year-old doctor, which has far-reaching consequences for both their lives.
The story itself is mostly very predictable and not very interesting - and the age gap between the two characters made me very uncomfortable. While it's made very clear that the protagonist, Olympia, is very aware of what she's doing - and is, in fact, very much the instigator of the affair - the imbalance of power between her and her lover still made the whole thing seem very wrong. Particularly since the man is a doctor and thus very knowledgeable about the potential consequences of what he's doing.
However, in spite of all that, I found myself regularly reading this book well past my planned bedtime, drawn in by the strength of the narrative and my (sometimes a bit unwilling) connection to Olympia and her story. In the second half, the court case sections were a bit dry, since they were stripped of any emotion or reaction from Olympia as an observer - but the climax really surprised me with the decisions made, which were very satisfying and also drawn well in terms of the emotion involved.
The ultimate conclusion felt a bit abrupt and a bit too neat in some ways - but I also appreciated the sense of continued sorrow at the heart of the central relationship, and the potential reward for a difficult choice earlier on was satisfying.
So, an unexpectedly compelling read, which was challenging and difficult in some ways, but very well written and engaging.
The story itself is mostly very predictable and not very interesting - and the age gap between the two characters made me very uncomfortable. While it's made very clear that the protagonist, Olympia, is very aware of what she's doing - and is, in fact, very much the instigator of the affair - the imbalance of power between her and her lover still made the whole thing seem very wrong. Particularly since the man is a doctor and thus very knowledgeable about the potential consequences of what he's doing.
However, in spite of all that, I found myself regularly reading this book well past my planned bedtime, drawn in by the strength of the narrative and my (sometimes a bit unwilling) connection to Olympia and her story. In the second half, the court case sections were a bit dry, since they were stripped of any emotion or reaction from Olympia as an observer - but the climax really surprised me with the decisions made, which were very satisfying and also drawn well in terms of the emotion involved.
The ultimate conclusion felt a bit abrupt and a bit too neat in some ways - but I also appreciated the sense of continued sorrow at the heart of the central relationship, and the potential reward for a difficult choice earlier on was satisfying.
So, an unexpectedly compelling read, which was challenging and difficult in some ways, but very well written and engaging.