Customer Reviews

Owl Island

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Owl Island by Randy Sue Coburn is a delicious read, steeped in local detail, pungent salt air, and packed with the quirky mix of individuals who make up our urban and rural Puget Sound Communities. Native locals will thoroughly enjoy reading this book, and arrivestes will love it for the insights and inside scope on local culture. The reader travels through the NW counter culture of the early 70s, (as seen through the eyes of Phoebe, a spunky, brainy, rebellious young woman,) to the present NW scene, with its fabulous mix of intellectuals, filmakers, musicians, artists, craftspeople, fishermen, biotech researchers, animated gamemakers, entrepreneurs of herbal teas, body piercings and tattoos! As this journey unfolds, Coburn shapes a sensitive and suspense filled study of the complexity of human relationships. Moral issues abound as well: in the biotech world, the filmaking industry, in the 'ghost net' trailings of the commercial fishing industry, in the conflict laden tribal rent increases on Owl Island, and in the secret past of her protagonist. Coburn is a strong story teller, and intellectually honest in the details which shape her characters. When Phoebe shaves her legs to please her man, Coburn's rebellious, independent heroine humerously embodies the all too human foibles of young love.

I've just gone on a suspenseful,romantic ride in the reading of Randy Sue Coburn's Owl Island. This is about the life of Phoebe Allen as told in the present and of her past life with her first lover, the charismatic Whit Traynor. He and his new wife have bought a home on Owl Island where Phoebe and her daughter have lived for the past twenty-plus years. Phoebe, now forty, and Whit, in his sixties, have not spoken since their quarrel and parting and Phoebe is apprehensive as to their inevitable meeting on the island.
Ms Coburn is a masterful storyteller, the pacing, rhythm, and interweaving of the past and present is enhanced by the three dimensional secondary characters that accompany Phoebe through the story; Phoebe's daughter Laurienne and her boyfriend Cliff take us into the world of computer programers. Phoebe we see both as a lovesick teenager and, in maturity, a net-maker for fishing vessels. Phoebe's neighbor Ivan is a potter who shows us the world of fine art and how artists manage to get their work shown. Lastly, the world of movie making and script writing is what Whit does and Phoebe did with him. Even Whits' new wife Jasmine, who could easily become a two-dimensional character isn't as she takes us into the world of astrology and intuition.
This book is rich in good old fashion storytelling, character,and suspense. More for women than men, through the story you will learn about many things without effort as your eyes consume the pages, your brain wonders what will come next, and your heart beats a little faster as you, or at least I, come to love these characters and hope for a happy ending.

I loved this fast-paced book and recommended it to my daughter because it has bountiful lessons about valuable relationships, outgrowing youthful obsessions, speaking up for oneself, taking pride in one's work, and a host of other relevant issues. All this in a terrific read that's impossible to put down. A must for women of every generation!

The book Owl Island is an amazing read. The standard reviews above, DON'T READ as they give away the story and shed a not so great light on it making it seem dull. The book lets you into the life of Phoebe, the main character as well as her daughter all essentially following the tale of how she got to the point in her life she is with a past full of passion and that one person who mesmerizes you and fundamentally changes you by allowing you to live and not live at the same time. It truly was an incredible book and I'll be sure to be reading it again.

Randy Sue Coburn's Owl Island is a fascinating tale of a fascinating woman, set in a beautiful place: the Pacific Northwest. Phoebe Allen is a character you will fall in love with, and remember for a lifetime. If you are a serious reader looking for an extraordinarily talented new writer, you have found that writer in Randy Sue Coburn.

Randy Sue has given such psychological depth to all of the characters in this book that I am on my third read, because I really want to know Phoebe: her past, her present, and her future. So will you. Owl Island is beautifully written, multilayered, and it will make you think. Allow plenty of time when you pick up this book; you will not be able to put it down for a long while.

This is a book for your permanent library.

Jana Mayer, St. Louis, Missouri

I picked up this book and at first glance, it seemed to me as the kind of book that belongs with trashy predictable stuff by Nora Roberts. The book flap description made it even sound that way. But it was much, much more than that, and I enjoyed it trememdously. I was surprized!
A woman must face her fears when her former lover (and possible father of her daughter) decides to buy a house on her beloved Owl Island. However, she is dating her neighbor, and she's not exactly in love with her former over anymore, though she is scared of seeing him again. My description doesn't do this book justice; it was very, very good. My only problem with it was that it kept mentioning some famous stripper lady named Mimi that people made a movie about, and the author kept referencing her like we were supposed to know who she was. I sure didn't. Otherwise though I was happy with the book.

Owl Island is set in the Puget Sound area of the Pacific Northwest and Randy Sue Coburn deftly depicts the area's rainy magic and its unconventional, crusty inhabitants. Themes of narcissistic mates, art, and depth of friendship could so easily be superficial but Coburn writes with an integrity that makes them resonate. The author's use of language is a subtle dance and the reader her fortunate partner.

I was STARVING for a book that would tempt me away from whatever I was supposed to be doing to read just one more chapter. And then one more... Owl Island provided perfectly! Randy Sue Coburn brings to life a community of characters in vivid locations with compelling relationships to sort out. It's a page turner, but the suspense is all about whether the characters will catch on to the truth about their lives in time, and how our perceptions of the characters transform over the course of the novel.

Started Owl Island two days ago and finished it this afternoon. I was hooked! Lots of things I loved: the characters, whom we come to know and care about, the unfolding of an emotional plot but without maudlin sentimentality, the evocative descriptions of landscape, of the island, of Phoebe's net mending. The whole thing rang true and is very nicely written. Surely worth reading!

A story with twists, turns, well-formed and memorable characters, this book kept me turning the pages to the end, in almost one sitting.The very literate writing provided an added bonus. I'm now enjoying Coburn's first novel, Remembering Jody, and looking forward to the next offering. Owl Island is a very full and satisfying read. Anyone interested in the effects of difficult relationships won't want to miss this one.