Strange Fits of Passion: A Novel
by Anita Shreve
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Book Summary Information
Author: Anita ShreveEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-10-04
ISBN: 0156031396
Number of pages: 342
Publisher: Mariner Books
Book Reviews of Strange Fits of Passion: A Novel
Book Review: One of the most important books in my Life
Summary: 5 Stars
Today I am in a very happy and abusefree relationship, but between 1975 and 1997 I was in several abusive marriages/relationships and know out of my own experience how hard it is to get out and to overcome the fear to spend the rest of your life alone (and in relative poverty) in the worst case.
So when I discovered "Eden Close", my first Anita Shreve book, I enjoyed reading it and was very touched by the story at the same time.
Then her second novel was translated into German and I bought "Strange Fits of Passion" and read it over and over again, once a year. Fortunately more books on that topic came out (Nancy Baker Jacobs, Joy Fielding etc) and in 1996 I was so inspired that I wrote my own rather autobiographical book which is at the same time a romance novel with lots of fiction, humor and suspense, too.
Reading all these books and finally writing my own book helped me to get the courage to leave Mr. Wrong and to start a better life.
For all these reasons I became a big Anita Shreve fan reading all her books (in German) and I still order them once a year at amazon.de although I moved to the US a few years ago. Her prose, her unique writing style is so beautiful that I don't want to miss any word and rather read the (very excellent) German translations.
However I never found her later books as compelling as the first three (Eden Close, Strange Fits of Passion, Where and When) which might have something to do with the fact that they are pretty much variations of the same theme (young girl/woman lives on Rye Beach in NH at the turn of the last century and meets a man that her parents don't accept etc).
I enjoyed "The Pilot's Wife", because it was taking place in the present time, not in the past, but after "Pilot's Wife" I was hoping and waiting for another novel as fascinating and breath-taking as "Eden Close" or "Strange Fits of Passion", but they are all turn of the Century Rye Beach novels set in the same house on the beach in New Hampshire. It's nice in the beginning, but gets repetitious now.
So I do hope that Anita Shreve will read my suggestion to write in-between all her Rye Beach books another novel as compelling as "Strange Fits" or "Eden Close" again.
BTW I know the Maine coast, because I lived in Maine for a few years and I recognized Jonesport most likely being Shreve's inspiration for St. Hilaire in "Strange Fits". And on the way to Jonesport right on the beach there is a house very similar to Maureen's rented house in the novel...
Summary of Strange Fits of Passion: A Novel
A labyrinthine tale of truth and deception from acclaimed novelist Anita Shreve
Everyone believes that Maureen and Harrold English, two successful New York City journalists, have a happy, stable marriage. It's the early '70s and no one discusses or even suspects domestic abuse. But after Maureen suffers another brutal beating, she flees with her infant daughter to a coastal town in Maine. The weeks pass slowly, and just as Maureen begins to settle into her new life and new identity, Harrold reappears, bringing the story to a violent, unforgettable climax.
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