Up Island: A Novel [Paperback]

Anne Rivers Siddons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 19, 2009

From childhood, Molly Bell Redwine was taught by her charismatic, domineering mother that "family is everything." But no one warned Molly that family can change unexpectedly. In rapid succession, her husband of more than twenty years abandons her for a younger woman, her mother dies, and her Atlanta clan scatters to the four winds. Molly is set adrift in a heartbeat.

With her old world crumbling, Molly takes refuge with a friend on Martha's Vineyard, hoping to come to terms with who she truly is. When the summer season ends, Molly decides to stay on, renting a small cottage on a remote up-island pond—becoming part of an odd, new, very real family that taxes her old outworn notions. And as the long Vineyard winter approaches, Molly braces herself for the arduous task she must undertake: a search for renewal and identity, and the strength to carry her through to the warm and healing spring.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Up Island chronicles the mass redemption of a unlikely group, thrown together by the vicissitudes of love and fate: "a six foot Southern Betrayed Wife and her widowed father and a senile old Portuguese lesbian and a one-legged schoolteacher and a mongrel dog and two aberrant swans..." As the novel begins, newly divorced Molly Redwine is in the market for some redemption. Battered and numb from loss, she comes to Martha's Vineyard to escape and heal if she can. For the next 300 pages, the story shuttles between Molly's heart, packed with pain, regret, and guilt, and the sea-licked open spaces of the island. By book's end, both places are terra cognita. There are family secrets, haunted dreams, and enough death to do Shakespeare proud--balanced delicately with small pleasures, kindness, and unbreakable bonds. Up Island is a fractal of a book: complicated but ultimately satisfying as only the completion of a pattern can be. Intelligent and insightful, it is good story tenderly told. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA. For Molly Redwine, maintaining her family is the essence of her existence. When her husband announces he is leaving her for another woman, her world collapses. The "other woman" quickly takes over Molly's social position, her house, and even the affection of her son. With the sudden death of her domineering mother, Molly is truly set adrift. Escaping with friends to Martha's Vineyard, she starts the search for her own identity. When her friends depart, she stays on in a small cottage. As a renter, she must also assume the duties of caretaker of two cantankerous old women who share a haunting secret, a gravely ill and estranged son of one of those women, and two territorial swans. Through the winter, Molly struggles to nurture them as she searches for a future for herself. As with most of Siddons's heroines, Molly is an engaging woman who battles successfully with adversity and remains unsinkable. The author's fans will be delighted with her latest novel and its setting.?Katherine Fitch, Lake Braddock Middle School, Burke, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 433 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (May 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061715719
• ISBN-13: 978-0061715716
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #470,491 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartpleasing, April 22, 2001

By 

Leigh Ann Reese (Huntsville, AL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Up Island (Mass Market Paperback)

This story touched my heart in a way that only another caretaker can. Women take care of people. It is our job without our knowing it. We do it from birth and are lost without it. Up Island touches us where we live, not for ourselves, but for others. I enjoyed it very much and now want to read all of her books. LAR

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read, June 21, 2006

By 

Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Up Island (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked this book basically because I have enjoyed most of the author's other books and it is one of the very few that I have not read (or heard of). This book is definitely perfect for a winter reading since it's more of a depressing book than an uplifting book like some of her others.

This book focuses on Molly Redwine whose world just shattered when she found out that her husband, Tee, is having an affair and was leaving her for an upstart from Florida. Then her son, Teddy, tells her that he's not returning to Georgia and her mother dies. So with her life basically in shambles, Molly accepted her best friend's invitation to stay at Martha's Vineyard. That month-long invitation turned into a much longer stay as Molly didn't want to return home and pick up the pieces. Together, with her father, they nursed two ailing women and a former schoolteacher who lost his leg due to cancer. Along that journey, Molly rediscovers what family really is and rediscovers who she is as well.

Siddons has the magical touch of keeping me spellbound while reading her books ~~ her characters are vividly drawn and the story keeps moving. But this time, instead of giving this book a four or a five ~~ I was a bit disappointed. It lagged towards the end then bam! The ending was here and left a lot of issues unresolved. The book starts out with Molly's divorce (or not wanting one) and ends on a different note. It is a bit confusing to read. And it was a let down too as if the story didn't have the ending neatly wrapped and tidy for the reader.

If you don't care how it is as you're a Siddons' fan ~~ then be sure to read this book. It's wonderful as always except for that flaw. If you're new to Siddons' books, don't start with this one. It is definitely not one of the best one in her library.

6-21-06

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VERY INTERESTING!, July 8, 2002

By 

J. Kirkman "book jen" (St. Petersburg, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Up Island (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a great big fan of Anne Rivers Siddons books and love her styles of writing. I say styles,(plural), because each book of hers is never quite the same as the one before. I enjoyed the character of Molly and felt that Siddons wrote with much emotion as she described the changes in Molly's life, beginning with when her husband left her for another women. From there, Molly finds a new life on the island, and yet still faces challenges with her ailing father, and helping two lesbian ladies, (a new twist), through their troublesome life as their health deteriotates. A wonderful book to read!