Outer Banks [Mass Market Paperback]

Anne Rivers Siddons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1992

Elegant Kate, walking a tightrope over an abyss of lies...sensitive, sensible, self-contained Cecie...Ginger, the heiress, sexy, vibrant, richer than sin...and poor, hopeless, brilliant Fig -- they came together as sorority sisters on a Southern campus in the '60s. Four young women bound by rare, blinding, early friendship -- they spend two idyllic spring breaks at Nag's Head, North Carolina, the isolated strip of barrier islands where grand old weatherbeaten houses perch defiantly on the edge of a storm-tossed sea. Now thirty years later, they are coming back. They are coming back to recapture the exquisite magic of those early years...to experience again the love, the enthusiasm, the passion, pain, and cruel-betrayal that shaped the four young girls into women and set them all adrift on the...Outer Banks.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Siddons--whose HarperPaperbacks King's Oak has 550,000 copies in print--delivers a deliciously readable novel about longtime friendships, structured around a reunion of sorority sisters. This was a 13-week PW bestseller and a BOMC alternate in cloth.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Yet another southern gothic twister from Siddons--though this time the author edges into the emotionally honest territory of, say, a Gail Godwin, right up until the very end, when she slams the melodramatic gas pedal to the floor. But things start out reasonably and interestingly enough, with middle-aged Kate Lee, a recent cancer patient who feels sure the little cancer ``Pac-Men'' are gobbling her again. Her husband, Alan, forces her to accept an invitation from an old sorority sister, Ginger Fowler, who stole Kate's true love, architecture student Paul Sibley, from her 28 years ago. Also to be present at the reunion on the North Carolina coast are Cecie Hart, Kate's once-closest friend (from whom she hasn't heard a word since graduation), and Georgina--a.k.a. Fig--Newton, a weird little cookie who had a hopeless crush on Kate back at Randolph University in Alabama. Kate plans to commit suicide right after the visit, but once the friends see each other again, things get complicated. She and Cecie bond once more; Ginger's hit the bottle, realizing that Paul married her only for her dough; and Fig's become a bestselling romance writer. To make matters worse, Paul arrives, begging Kate to come back to him. And she almost does, until he shows his true skunkish stripes--which would leave Kate resolved to live and return to Alan, were it not for Fig, who's decided to get her revenge for the way she disdained her all through college.... Siddons fans will be enthralled; indeed, this is a much more emotionally gripping novel than her last, King's Oak. But it won't woo readers who want to see the characters they've been following settle their problems without wild effects and plot tricks. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (June 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061099732
• ISBN-13: 978-0061099731
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #867,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outer Banks is a masterpiece, November 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Outer Banks (Mass Market Paperback)

First of all I'd like to say that I'm spanish, so my english is not very good, but I think that is posible to express my point of view about Outer Banks, I finished to read, today and right now I'm sad, because I was very envolved in that atmosphere and I'll gonna miss the story, I loved his book, and I think that Anne Rivers Siddons have a wonderfull talent and she made me think about to much things and she specially made me smile and cry at the same time, so I would like to congratulation you, MRS. Anne Rivers Siddons. Stella Garcia

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A larger-than-life story with crisp, emotional characters., June 4, 2002

By 

Denise Bentley "Kelsana" (The California Redwoods) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Outer Banks (Mass Market Paperback)

This author never disappoints me with her garrulous prose and characters that stay with you well beyond the telling of the tale. The cool, aristocratic Kate, tells us the story of four friends that come together as members of a women's sorority house in college.

The tiny, elflike Cecie is closest to Kate's heart, and their friendship becomes the staple of her college existence. Ginger and Fig share the room next door in this campus domicile that fills the hours of all their lives till graduation. Things are not always as they seem and life throws some curve balls that are unexpected by our Kate. These are times of great loves, and friendships, as well as great sorrows. Though devastating as it can be, life must go on and people do survive the disappointment that wreaks havoc with the plans of a lifetime.

It is many years later and the women have decided to come together at Ginger's beach house on the Outer Banks. Who is the perpetrator that has manipulated this situation and what lies ahead for the group? It is an engrossing tale from start to finish. Kelsana 6/4/02

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Can You Go Back?, November 18, 2001

By 

booknblueslady (Woodland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Outer Banks (Mass Market Paperback)

Anne Rivers Siddons, the author of Outer Banks is comfortable explaining the southern soul, but she also understands the depth of friendships that develop during a young woman's formative years. Many of us can remember the deep friendships we formed when away at college for the first time. We often look at these friendships with idealism and nostalgia.

Kate who is fighting a battle with cancer is asked to attend a reunion with her three closest college friends, Cecie, Ginger and Fig. Kate is unsure that she wants to return or see these friends again. There was a time when she loved them dearly, but that time is long past and betrayals bridge that gap.

Siddons presents a book in which things are not what they seem . There are numerous deceptions and undercurrents beneath the surface of the happy reunion. Each participate has developed their own agenda and their perception of their happy college life differs vastly.

The setting of the outer banks is intriguing and the reader feels the attraction of the sun and ocean. Soon the reader also begins to feel the compelling and seductive force of the waves and is effect on the lives of those of the shore dwellers.

I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy stories about complex relationships