Book Description
Every August, four women would gather together to spend a week at the beach, renting a new house each year. The ritual began when they were in their twenties and their husbands were in medical school, and became a mainstay of every summer thereafter. Their only criteria was oceanfront and isolation, their only desire to strengthen their far-flung friendships. They called themselves the Girls of August. But when one of the Girls dies tragically, the group slowly drifts apart and their vacations together are brought to a halt. Years later, a new marriage reunites them and they decide to come together once again on a remote barrier island off the South Carolina coast. There, far from civilization, the women make startling discoveries that will change them in ways they never expected.
About the Author
Born Sybil Anne Rivers in Atlanta, Georgia, she was raised in Fairburn, Georgia, and attended Auburn University, where she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority.
While at Auburn she wrote a column for the student newspaper, The Auburn Plainsman, that favored integration. The university administration attempted to suppress the column, and ultimately fired her, and the column garnered national attention. She later became a senior editor for Atlanta magazine. At the age of thirty she married Heyward Siddons, and she and her husband now live in Charleston, South Carolina, and spend summers in Maine.
My Review
The Girls of August is a good beach read but I was expecting more from an Anne Rivers Siddons book. I keep expecting surprises and twists that weren't there. So disappointing in that sense. It was easy to read and I finished it quite quickly. I would recommend Siddons' earlier books.
It's like she kept hinting there was more to the story, but never followed through, and then it just ended--no resolution to anything. Was her husband thrilled she was pregnant, or did he really not want kids? Was the baby going to be ok? How did the family react to the cancer diagnosis? Why did Baby get rid of so many family things at the house? Why did she marry someone so much older? What about the divorce?
ReplyDeleteExactly. The story could have been amazing. I kept expecting more.
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