Bride Island [Mass Market Paperback]

Alexandra Enders (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 26, 2007

Can a mother reclaim the daughter she lost?

Six years ago, Polly Birdswell—drinking and deeply unhappy—made a decision that changed her life forever. Believing she could spare her young daughter a legacy of self-destruction, she left her husband and child and moved north to a coastal town in Maine. There, close to Bride Island, the beloved family retreat she considers her true home, she set about getting sober and remaking her life.

Now Polly desperately wants seven-year-old Monroe back and is determined to prove—to herself especially—she’s a stable and loving mother. At the same time, a sudden decision to sell Bride Island unleashes a wave of family greed that endangers the island’s future. As Polly and her siblings try to claim ownership of what they love, they discover some things can never truly be owned, and Polly must again ask herself what she’s willing to relinquish. Beautifully written and emotionally complex, Bride Island is a poignant debut novel about love, motherhood, and the haunting and sometimes conflicting pulls of family and the places that shape us.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Polly Birdswell has been sober for four years and deems herself fit to regain custody of seven-year-old Monroe, whom she left as a baby, but her ex-husband disagrees. In addition to fighting for Monroe, Polly also wants the Maine island—home of childhood vacations and the sacred ground where her brother died—that her hard-drinking stepfather wants to sell. Polly's obsession with the island becomes as tiresome as the uninspired prose. Though novels of abandoned daughters may abound, stories from the mother's perspective are less common; unfortunately, the issue is hardly explored and what could have been provocative falls flat. Polly is repeatedly asked how she could have given up Monroe, but Enders fails to grasp the opportunity to give an insightful answer. Efforts to signify the island as a place of healing and salvation are heartfelt, but dull characters mired in a plodding plot defeat a promising concept. (July)
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Review

A strong and beautiful book, full of the power and beauty of the Maine coast. Enders has a deep understanding of the world of emotional engagement. This is an impressive debut. -- Roxana Robinson, author of This is My Daughter and Sweetwater

Enders is a short story writer whose foray into the novel format makes for a compelling read. Polly Birdswell has worked diligently to separate herself from her alcoholic family and haunting past. She gave up custody of her daughter, Monroe, and moved to coastal Maine in order to get her life together. But Polly's heart belongs to Bride Island, a family retreat off the Maine coast. Its landscape, despite containing only a raggedy old house, invigorates and calms Polly's soul. When her mother decides to sell Bride Island, Polly realizes she must take action and try to claim it. This battle makes Polly move toward regaining custody of Monroe-and regaining trust in and acceptance of herself. From alcoholic families and divorced parenting, all the way to a harrowing family secret, this novel covers a plethora of domestic tribulations. Polly is a truly imperfect person who is trying her hardest to make her life mean something. It's a difficult road and a lovely read. For most fiction collections. -- Beth Gibbs, Library Journal

Enders writes with such bone-deep honesty we know from the opening pages that it is winner take all. -- Jacquelyn Mitchard, author, The Deep End of the Ocean

Taut and moving, quirky, wise, often funny and finally deeply surprising. Enders takes some big risks and finesses all of them. -- Beth Gutcheon, author of More Than You Know and Leeway Cottage

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Plume (June 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452288347
• ISBN-13: 978-0452288348
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,381,310 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect summer read that also has heft, August 11, 2007

By 

Jo-Ann Mapson "novelist and dog lover" (Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bride Island (Mass Market Paperback)

Bride Island is the kind of book I love to find, evoking a place so real I want to go there. Set in the state of Maine, it features narrator Polly, a single mother who doesn't have custody of her daughter, but is beginning to want to. Her troubled past and difficult family hamper her attempts to mature and emancipate, but Polly hangs in with the occasional slip that turns into a slide, and then back out again. Very gently, Enders slips myth and legend into the underpinnings, never enough to scream out but rather to tease out the notion that we humans, like the Greek gods, are flawed and learn slowly if at all. She also kindles that deep fascination some of us have with islands as well. And I loved the cover! Good book, one I will buy for friends. Looking forward to her next offering.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Mothers and Daughters...and fathers like me..., July 14, 2007

By 

Frank (Dalton, MA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bride Island (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a beautiful story about how flawed people...flawed families...move forward. The best kinds of books for me are ones that elicit the full range of emotion. Bride Island certainly achieved this. I read an interview the author gave where she talked about confronting the things (through writing) that frightened her the most. In facing her personal fears, Ms. Enders has created a veracious and provocative piece of fiction. I really liked this book.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, November 29, 2007

By 

S. Wade "Wine and Dine" (Raleigh, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bride Island (Mass Market Paperback)

I wasn't really sure about this book just based on the description, but it was chosen by our book club. Honestly, once I got through the first chapter I was hooked and couldn't put it down. I loved the book and the characters probably because I relate to their life issues. Some of the people in our book club weren't as enamoured by this book, but I simply loved it and have read it again since. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever had hurdles in their life to get over and not necessarily had anybody in their corner. Great book!