Storm Tide [Hardcover]

Marge Piercy (Author), Ira Wood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 19, 1998

After his dreams of playing baseball in the Majors fall short and his marriage ends, David Greene returns to his small hometown on Cape Cod. There he meets the eminent professor, Gordon Stone, and his beautiful wife, Judith Silver, with whom he soon falls into a passionate affair. Into this explosive mix, a young woman appears--a single mother at the end of her emotional rope. Crystal desperately needs David. Yet caught between two women, David bears witness to a heartbreaking turn of events that seems as inevitable as the push and pull of ocean waves. . . .

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Incendiary small-town politics and lethally tangled passions are the focus of this clunky, bloodless collaborative effort from two authors who have each produced better solo work. Piercy (City of Darkness, City of Light) and her husband, Wood (Going Public), have created an irresolute protagonist in David Greene, once a local baseball legend who has now returned to the Cape Cod hamlet of Saltash in disgrace, leaving behind a failed minor league career and a broken marriage. His prospects are dim until he begins an unlikely affair with Judith Silver, a beautiful, talented lawyer whose husband, the eminent professor Gordon Stone, owns an eclectic island compound and is the town's leading progressive politico. Not only does Gordon condone the affair, he joins Judith in persuading David to run for a key seat on the board of selectmen. Their opposition is led by Johnny Lynch, an old-fashioned political boss who has controlled the town for decades. Since David is a congenital pawn with an overactive libido, he can't resist further complicating his situation by also having an affair with desperate, volatile Crystal Sinclair, who works for Lynch; and these oddly lifeless sexual complications combine with meteorological disaster for a predictably bad end. The authors aim for a tale of consuming political and romantic passions with David at its center, but his character is too weak (and the supporting players are too wooden) to execute this tricky game plan. Histrionics aside, the novel does succeed on a lesser scale in its perceptive, stinging depiction of a parochial seaside resort, but this feat is not enough to redeem the air of somnambulance that surrounds its scheming cast.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Piercy, the feminist poet (What Are Big Girls Made Of, LJ 1/97) and novelist (Gone to Soldiers, LJ 4/1/87), and husband Wood (Going Public, LJ 5/1/91), offer a well-written novel, where imperfect people do foolish things with unfortunate results. Each author wrote separate chapters, which they meshed together seamlessly. David, a small-town hero who failed to make baseball's major leagues, returns to Cape Cod 15 years later. He works in his sister's nursery, where he meets Judith and falls under her spell. They begin an affair, one accepted by her cancer-riddled husband. When Judith asks David to run for town selectman, his opponent is backed by Johnny Lynch, who has run the town for years. Enter Crystal, an unstable young woman who uses sex as both reward and spider web. When David tries to break away from the trap, the inevitable tragedy occurs. The ending may be predictable, but getting there is a pleasure; the characters are real, and the well-constructed plot is different enough to hold one's attention. Recommended for popular fiction collections.AAndrea Lee Shuey, Dallas P.L.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Fawcett; 1st edition (May 19, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449001660
• ISBN-13: 978-0449001660
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,890,411 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:

3.0 out of 5 stars An unusual book, engrossing but manipulative., February 27, 2000

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Storm Tide (Paperback)

"Storm Tide," by Marge Piercy and Ira Wood, starts out well. At first, it is an absorbing story of a small island in Massachusetts, where there are no secrets. The island is depicted lovingly as a place where people can live out their lives in a beautiful setting. As the narrative proceeds, the lives of the various residents of Saltash Island become intertwined. The main characters are David, a former baseball player who never lived up to his potential, and Judith, a married lawyer with whom David becomes romantically involved. Their relationship is threatened by Crystal, a scheming woman with a son who moves in (literally) on David and tries to take over his life. Complicating matters still further, David runs for political office on the island, which challenges the political machine set up years ago by the island's boss, Johnny Lynch. To their credit, Piercy and Wood try to make the characters three-dimensional. However, the authors throw too many complications into the story. They try to deal with the characters' ties to Judaism, their eroticism, their political involvement, and their family ties all at once. The plot becomes much too convoluted. By the end of the book, I was weary of all the machinations invented by the authors. Too much goes on at once to keep the narrative flowing smoothly. This is too bad, since the book began quite well and seemed to be heading in an interesting direction.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Characters that draw you completely into their world., May 24, 1998

By 

"anomy4" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storm Tide (Hardcover)

Read this now!! Piercy has always drawn powerful and interesting characters, especially those who grow out of the sixties spirit. The three around whom the story revolves are vivid, memorable, and, if not always loveable, certainly always compelling. The first person point of view of David's story gave an added intimacy to the relationship with his character, at least for this reader. The intrigue of the plot on both the personal and political levels was great! I love the way that Judiasm, food and respect for learning are woven into the plot. Now I will have to add Mr. Wood to my list of favorite authors, which has long been topped by his wife. Like many of her books, notably, for me, He, She and It and Vida, I couldn't decide whether to whip through in one or two sittings, or to savor for a while. Sadly, I really couldn't put it down, and wait eagerly for the next work, collaboration or otherwise. The notes about the art of collaboration at the end were also of great interest, and added to my appreciation of this terrific story.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Yawn, August 30, 2002

By 

carolee luberto (columbus, oh United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Storm Tide (Paperback)

I love Marge Piercy's books....I've read Braided Lives, Vida, Summer People, Gone to Soldiers and now this. It's not that it was all that disjointed which it was, it's that the story seemed to be something Mr. Wood and Ms. Piercy cooked up in their kitchen and forgot to let us in on the secret. I really disliked this book.