Customer Reviews

Portion of the Sea

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A beautiful collection of thoughts designed to give an above average portion of courage and inspiration to all women. This book is a candidate for Oprah's book club and I truly hope that many are able to share in the lovely story. It is my hope that the author, Christine Lemmon, continues to write more than just two books. She has a gift which needs to be shared.

This book is a wonderful story about love and life set on Sanibel Island. It is wonderfully written and is such a beautiful, clean, book. I love how Christine conveys all of the emotion without all of the uneccessary R rated language. This book is perfect for a person of any age and tells such a wonderful story of how we can all learn from our ancestors if only we listen. If your have ever been to Sanibel Island this is a must read. You will think of all of the characters every time you go to lighthouse beach and cross the causeway coming onto the island.

Bravo to Christine. I can't wait to read the next book!

You'll enjoy reading about Ava and Lydia in this wonderful book! Two girls, generations apart, become women. They discover their choices in life over the years. Their lives are quite similar and their choices lead them to come to terms with life and love. You will love the scenes on Sanibel Island, which is a beautiful barrier island in Florida. Portion of the Sea is uplifting and inspiring.

I originally picked up Sanibel Scribbles on our yearly trip to Sanibel hoping to take a piece of this magical island home with me, and I fell in love with Lemmon's writing style. I was thrilled to find her second novel, which did not disappoint. Lemmon's characters are deeply developed, intelligent, struggling women that all of us can relate to. All of the women in her books are in the middle of their personal journeys and struggles through depression and anxiety, and I think Lemmon writes about the psychological aspects of her characters brilliantly! This book is truly a spiritually encouraging and inspiring masterpiece. Thank you, Christine! Just like Lydia waiting for the next installment of Ava's journal, I eagerly await what you will write for us in the future.

Showing women the power of their own strength whether it is during the suffrage years or the current millennium, is a gift that Christine Lemmon has given us. Reading this story is a pleasure. Love, growth, inspiration, independence, and sorrow are all themes threaded throughout the book. One becomes drawn towards the similarities of Ava and Lydia, two women from different centuries. If you've ever been lucky enough to spend any time on Sanibel Island or enjoyed the peacefulness of nature, you'll have even more insight as you enjoy reading these passages.

I came across this book a few years ago and it was one that I just had to keep. I'm getting ready to read it for the second time. It is a wonderful beach book. I live near Sanibel Island as described in the book and it really made me appreciate this wonderful place I get to call home. The novel is worth sharing too. I just bought a copy for a friend. Can't wait to read her other works.

This story is written so beautifully, you can't put the book down. I highly recommend it to women of all ages.

I'm just going to get right into it and say that I went through various stages of like when it came to Portion of the Sea. When I first started, I kind of fell in love with it. I found the descriptions of everything from the island of Sanibel to Lydia's awakening absolutely beautiful (although that didn't change throughout the whole novel). So much that I copied a few quotes and put them in my notebook (where I keep most of the quotes I encounter on a daily basis). I sort of expected my love of this book to diminish soon (you know, after the initial "honeymoon" phase when things stop looking so shiny), but I didn't think that my feelings for it would change as much as it did.

So, I loved the beginning, but it was during the middle where things started fading for me. I found myself intrigued mostly with Lydia's awakening as a high school student (as well as Ava's awakening through her teenage years) more than the subsequent results of it (however, that can be just my love of anything and everything even semi-YA shining through). I thought it would've been better if the author expanded on that part; which brings me to my next point. I felt that the book glossed over too many months/years. Right when I would be getting acclimated to what was going on in Lydia/Ava's life, I would go to the next entry and years would have passed. Then that would leave me groaning "why???" for about five minutes.

After that, I felt like large parts of Portion of the Sea were just dragging on. So much that I kept thinking, "Just a little more and you'll be finished". I just didn't find the middle/ending as charming as the beginning and that put a damper on my enjoyment of the book.

However, I do have to say that I absolutely loved Lydia and Ava. As a feminist, I found myself nodding my head and saying "EXACTLY!" to some of the thoughts expressed in the book regarding marriage, careers, and basically life. I thought they were both strong women and that's something that I love when I'm reading women's fiction. Sure, Lydia was often wishy-washy, but I found myself understanding where she was coming from when it came to whether or not she should keep moving on with her career or be with the man she loves (frankly, I would rather just not choose but that's neither here nor there).

I do have to say, though, that as much as I loved Ava, I just didn't find her voice ringing true as a teenager from the 1890s (as a teenager, yes. 1890s...not quite). I just couldn't see a woman from the 1890s say some of the things she said. Not in regards to the whole feminism thing, but rather her vocabulary. The way she and her family spoke just sounded way to modern for me. I know that Ava was supposed to be modern and not want to take part in the societal norms of her time, but if I recall correctly, she did say "no way!" in one part of the book. I just can't picture a teenager from the 1890s saying that. That and other things just took me completely out of the story. I just didn't think that it rang true enough for it to be classified as a historical fiction novel. Ava's vocabulary was just too "pop culture" for me to completely buy it.

Anyway, I have to say that while I didn't completely dislike Portion of the Sea, I didn't really like it either. However, I do have to say that the author is a tremendous writer. I just found the writing so breathtaking that it made me feel a little bad for not loving the novel. Also, amazing cover!

Christine Lemmon is the author of a series of superbly written novels with the theme of women struggling to realize their true potential. "Sanibel Scribbles" is the story of Vicki Brightman, her best friend Rebecca, a six-month journey to another country, a roster of colorful characters, and the unexpected demands that compel equally unexpected changes in one's life. Set in 1953 era Florida, "Portion Of The Sea", is the complex story of 15-year-old Lydia Isleworth, who meets Marlena DiPluma, an aspiring Hollywood actress who give Lydia her journal and admonishes that Lydia is capable of accomplishing anything that she wants to achieve. "Sand In My Eyes" is the story of Anna Hott, who leaves her high-pressure life, failing marriage, and demanding children behind when she moves from New York City to Sanibel Island, a barrier island off of Florida's Gulf Coast where life is lived at a very different pace and enables her. Very highly recommended for community library contemporary fiction collections and personal leisure time reading lists, all three novels document Christine Lemmon as a gifted writer with a very special flare for creating memorable characters with extraordinary stories of their own.

A wonderful book!! Many women can identify with the main characters. It gives a wonderful description of Sanibel!!