Islands [Import] [Paperback]

Anne Rivers Siddons (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch; 1ST edition (2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006079416X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060794163
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,192,288 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lovely locale, rich writing, but not always believable..., July 14, 2005

By 

Cynthia K. Robertson (beverly, new jersey USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Islands (Hardcover)

I purchased Islands by Anne Rivers Siddons to take on a vacation to the Low Country of Charleston, SC. Islands is set in Charleston, Sullivan's Island, Edisto and John's Island, so I thought it would be the perfect book. While I enjoyed most of Islands, it morphed into something really bizarre at the end.

Anny Butler is the director of a Charleston children's welfare agency. In the course of her work, she meets orthopedic doctor and native Charlestonian, Lewis Aiken. Aiken falls in love with the spinster Butler (hard to figure out why) and after a whirlwind courtship, they are married. By virtue of their marriage, Anny becomes part of "the Scrubs." The Scrubs consist of four couples, most native Charlestonians. Four of them work in the medical field, and thus the name. The Scrubs have purchased a beach house on Sullivan's Island, and they spend almost every weekend there together. The first day Anny meets the Scrubs, they pledge that when they start failing, they will move in together and take care of each other. Over time, events happen that will change the dynamics of the Scrubs including a hurricane, fires, deaths and infidelity. Three of them take their vow to each other seriously. But story evolves into one of love gone awry, obsession and revenge.

Islands definitely lacks credibility. Dr. Aikens owns a house on The Battery, a house on Bull Street, a big plantation on Edisto and the beach house with the Scrubs. Months and sometimes, years go by without Lewis or Anny using one house or the other. When tragedies occur, most of the Scrubs are likely to abandon one house (without selling it, of course) and purchase something new. They are also likely to disappear for months at a time (don't know of many jobs where such things are possible). The Scrubs forsake their families, children and grandchildren for the sake of the group. And it's a stretch to think that a young librarian would abandon her career (and in some cases, her 7 year old daughter) to become a cook, cleaner and caretaker.

Still, Islands has two great things going for it: the Charleston Low Country and Siddons' rich, lyric writing. Charleston is always a wonderful backdrop, and it was especially interesting reading about how hurricane Hugo affected the locals. Siddons' descriptions of the Low Country can be pure poetry, and only Pat Conroy surpasses her in this regard.

So while Islands wasn't quite as good as I had hoped, it was still a good book for a vacation-especially to the Low Country.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too much!, October 25, 2004

By 

Lulu (Hamilton, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Islands (Hardcover)

Although I have enjoyed ARS earlier works like Colony and Outer Banks, I find myself getting more and more impatient with each successive offering. I found Islands to be nothing more than one overlong description after another of the too, too wonderful southern climate (even though it is laden with unbearable humidity and mosquitoes), landscape (can pluff mud be mentioned one more time?) cozy houses (all main characters own several, of course), furnishings (lots of rump sprung sofas, whatever that is), wonderful dogs and over privileged people who manage to look like teenagers well into their golden years. All of this puncuated with an occasional death, disappearance or discovery of infidelity thrown in to keep the reader's interest. I, like another reviewer, found myself skimming over some of the more unbearable blather in a desperate search for a plot!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible!!, July 20, 2004

By 

M. LAVIGNE - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Islands (Hardcover)

In my opinion, "Islands" is an unreadable piece of work. I found it completely contrived, the characters one dimensional, and the dialogue ridiculous.

I have read and enjoyed every Anne Rivers Siddons book written, with the exception of this book. I can't really put my finger on it, but this book made my skin crawl!!