The Cottagers: A Novel

by Marshall N. Klimasewiski

"Klimasewiski brings the final curtain down with a satisfyingly wicked twist....A remarkable debut."—Los Angeles Times Book Review

Cyrus Collingwood, nineteen, suspects he may be a genius without a calling. He is a year-round resident of East Sooke, Vancouver Island, and has a natural resentment for the summer cottagers who descend on its rocky beaches. When two vacationing American couples arrive - old friends with a complicated history - they become his obsession. Greg and Nicholas are academics with a friendship more competitive than collegial; Samina and Laurel are old roommates who have grown apart and developed an intricate jealousy. Cyrus spies on the cottagers through their windows, then begins to insinuate himself into their lives. When one of the cottagers goes missing, no one will look at the others the same way again.

Combining the eerie suspense of Patricia Highsmith and the literary fortitude of Ian McEwan, The Cottagers is about the discrepancy between the lives we live and the versions of those lives that trail behind us.

Genres: Contemporary, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Fiction

318 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Marshall N. Klimasewiski’s stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Best American Short Stories. He teaches writing at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where he lives.

Reviews

[Audrey Babkirk Wellons · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book's strength was its ability to pinpoint and describe the characters' emotional states. What drew me in was the back cover's promise of a shadowy, backwoods murder mystery with a sort of secrets&lies flair. Unfortunately there are many moments when you get a whiff of overwriting, and that florid scent of a first novel. I occasionally found myself wanting to edit paragraphs down, or wishing for some Hemingwayesque prose to cleanse my palate.

But anyway, anyway ... although the characters were rarely admirable, there were many moments I identified with. And there's an interesting theme of biography vs. how we see ourselves that runs through it. A fast-paced thriller it is not, but there were times when I was itching to pick it up again. In short, action is not this author's forte, but detailing emotion is.

[Nathan Oates · Rating 5 out of 5]

How is it possible that this wonderful novel didn't get more attention when it came out? The novel is about academics on vacation on a remote island off the coast of Vancouver and their entanglements with the locals. There is a gripping, suspenseful plot that made me always eager to pick this book back up, and the writing is wonderful from the first page through to the end (a rarity in contemporary fiction). We enter the head of numerous characters (some over and over again, others just once or twice) and through this structure Klimasewiski always adds complexity and interest to the story with each chapter. While I admire the skill with which he constructs this book, what I loved about this book was the intensity of its realism: never once do I question the events, the motivations of the characters or any element of the fictional world he has constructed. Ultimately, the novel, for all its unlikable characters, is heartbreaking and goregous and full of human feeling. I've owned this book for a few years, and am, in a way, glad I waited to read it, as now Klimasewiski is likely that much closer to finishing his next book and my wait is shorter than it would've been. In the interim, I will read his collection of short stories. This is a marvelous book and I highly recommend it.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book kicks ass. Nate read it and couldn't stop raving about it, so I read it as soon as he was done. It's the story of four adults and one kid vacationing on an island off Vancouver. There's great tension between the major players, then something bad happens (won't say what) and everything gets more complicated, murky, wonderful. The character work is great, as is the sentence by sentence writing. And, what's more, Klimasewiski makes all these gutsy plot/narrative-structure choices, like revealing things at unexpected, potentially less dramatic moments, and he makes them work. Reading it at times feels like watching a man walk a tightrope, wanting him to make it across, worrying he'll fall but he doesn't. He gets to the other side, takes a modest bow, climbs down the ladder. And we're left relieved and buzzing.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book because I met the author at a reading and signing of his wife's first book. He is a brilliant writer, but this is a somewhat sinister story of friends (?) vacationing together when one of them disappears. None of the characters is especially likeable, yet the story is interesting. It is set on Vancouver Island, and his descriptions make me want to go there, yet after reading this, I think I would be a little nervous being there. This was a first novel for Marshall Klimasewiski, and I am axious to see what's next for him.

[Kristin Pollock · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novel has potential, but ultimately leaves too many threads dangling and disconnected. I think the author could have used the advice of an additional editor to cut it down by 1/2 its current length. The story ought to be a short story and not a novel.

[Micha Goebig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm ... definitely an ambitious book, but somehow I didn't enjoy it too much. Maybe it's because it doesn't have a single personable character, maybe it's because it's too detailed and slow moving for my taste.

[Peter B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing first novel! The central character, Cyrus is a nineteen year old who seems to do nothing other than prey on cottagers by spying on them, breaking into their cottages, stealing things he doesn’t want or need, and scaring them. He befriends one group and spends considerable time with them, especially their daughter Hilda. He accidentally? kills Nicholas, the father of the child and the husband of Samina with whom he has a strange one-sided relationship. He loses the body as it floats out to sea and then joins the searchers.
His father stays in his room all day and night working on a book about Lewis Carrol about whom some rather nasty things are implied. ( Charles Dodgson is the real name of Lewis Carrol and he did his photography under that name. The Alice character is the daughter of people he befriended and spent rather a lot of time with the little girls, which was abruptly stopped at some point.) The other couple end up fighting with Samina and leaving. His girlfriend isn’t really a girlfriend.
Cyrus lives in a world in his mind and I think that I have been there. This author has truly captured a unique character.
In the end, Cyrus confesses to Ginny who leaves town when her father passes without telling anyone, Samina returns to India on extended trips, the body is found quite some time later and there is no investigation, and Cyrus ends up writing the story with Greg and carrying on his father’s work.
Bizarre! But I loved it.

[Kelsey Ballard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this would be an action packed thriller...which it was not. I did, however, enjoy the authors detailed writing and found myself identifying with the characters emotions at times. It was a book I wasn’t itching to pick up, yet something kept drawing me to open it again and finish it. It didn’t pick up until the second part but even then the climax was hardly that. In closing, it had a lot of potential, I enjoy the authors writing, but as it is this book was boring and I didn’t really like any of the characters.

[Nicole Salto · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF, too slow for me

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

A ho hum story filled with ho hum characters.

[Drew Temel · Rating 3 out of 5]

visceral emotional descriptions + dynamics between shifting emotions, strong pacing (until the end), outsider-insider power relations, simultaneous conversations with people talking past each other

[Kasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Cottagers is an aggravating book to read. The delicate intricacy with which it was build spins out of hand and the reader get taken on a journey of words...how many words does it take the writer to describe what happens in this story? Apparently too many because my head was spinning and half way though the book I was ready to give up. Instead of building up his plot the author takes his time to throw in his own life philosophies about everything into each paragraph, breaking the velocity of the tale. His personal needs to overindulge in luxuries of spinning his random thoughts that really don't add much to the book and rather distract the reader are simply too much to bear, making me feel like I am doing a chore every time I was gearing up to open the book to continue reading.

The story is simple enough but spun into infinity with no resolution in the end. Two married couples are taking some time off from the daily grind and meet up at a charming cottage in East Sooke in Vancouver Island. Indian born Samina and her American husband Nicholas bring their darling little daughter Hilda, perhaps the only likable character in this story, along to share the cabin with their old college friends, Laurel and Greg. They have no idea that a local nineteen year old boy, Cyrus has found them interesting enough to spy on them daily and has made up his mind to be a part of their lives in one way or another. The vacationers are rudely awaken form their vacation slumber when one of them goes missing leaving nothing but shreds of information that change depending on whom is asked for the reasons explaining the disappearance. The couples start to show their true colors and make the reader uncomfortable at times, clearly displaying distrust, frustration and ulterior motives, trying to ruin anything good that can come out of the story. I had a hard time reading what was coming out of Laurel's mouth, if I was stuck with a person like her in a cabin she would be the subject of my full fury, she was worse in my mind that Cyrus, who was only comparable to a black poisonous spider, weaving his web, trying to catch as many flies as possible.

Half way thought he book when the person goes missing there is hope for the story, at least something is going on but it truly fizzles. I am glad I finished the book because I hate to leave something unread but it really made no difference in my life whether I finished it or no, no real resolution and justice shone through. In the end I felt depressed reading about the pain the disappearance brought, it was mulled over and over again and left me with a headache.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, I sure gave it enough chances and read it with an open mind and there were nice passages as I enjoyed bits of the story and the strange vibe between the characters but at the end I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone I know to read, and that always says something.

- Kasia S.

[Caley · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining albeit overly lengthy book that seems to be pushing forth some sort of deep character study but never fully realizes itself despite its length. The cottagers are textually interesting and their motives are realistic but they felt half-baked character wise. In fact, there's a weird, vacuous feeling to most of this book. It almost felt like reaching up high for a lost item in a closet and then inadvertently pushing the item back even farther, followed by that annoying realization that now you have to go get a damn chair. I vainly kept waiting for the moment when this book would emotionally pull me in but that just didn't happen. 3.5 stars.

[Mollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite it's unsavory topic, this book made me want to run away and live on Vancouver island in amongst the locals. Klimasewiski writes beautifully, and while I didn't think that the characters were ever fully realised, I really enjoyed the narrative. I could have done without the random Lewis Carroll bits, but I loved Cyrus, warts and all. I thought all of the Cottagers were repellent, but that that was probably intentional. I did have a hard time stirring up any sympathy for Samina, which was unlike me.

[Alice Catches · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated this book for the intriguing plot, the fantastic character descriptions, and the gathering suspense. I didn't particularly like most of the characters, but this didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the book. This writer certainly has talent, but I didn't love the ending. In fact, it was not unrealistic as much as it just seemed "off" somehow... I wasn't expecting the sociopathic main character to evolve into a normal human being. Nevertheless, it was still enjoyable; the author's prose is outstanding.

[Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was pretty disappointing. It's about two couples who vacation together and get drawn into the web of a local sociopath. There were too many characters whose stories were simply not developed enough. At the end, I just didn't really care about any of these characters. I also found the descriptions of the townie/shoobie (which is our term for vacationers to the New Jersey shore) dynamic artificial.

[Bree · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible book. You get the feeling that most of the story is happening in the author's head - and that he lost track of all the threads he was supposed to tie up at the end. I was constantly turning the page, thinking to my self: "What." The only redeeming aspect of this book was that I was actually in a rent-a-cottage on a little island in the Puget Sound not far from where this book takes place while I was reading it...spooky.

[Dree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been a great book, if the first 100 pages had been 40. The middle was great. I would have liked a bit more info at the end about G&L--we meet G, but not L. But I actually enjoyed the rather vague ending, it was very real. Real life rarely ties up all neat and perfect and defined. Also would have liked to know--even if the other characters didn't--what happened to G&D. Trying not to give spoilers here!

[Noelle]

I say "currently reading" but I'm not sure I'll feel like picking it up again. I admired this book for months at Barnes & Noble before actually buying it. Liked the cover and sounded like a good book. It's rather strange and I've hit a very slow spot and I put it down this summer and it's now...December. We'll see if I finish it by next summer. I really want to like it because the cover is awesome and the story sounds nice and suspenseful.

[Olivier · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional book if you let yourself be sucked into the exquisitely observed world of the story. Dark, damp and definitely not cosy. A while since I read it, but I'd say it's about the horrible things that we do to each other by inadvertency, by not reacting or speaking up in time. By following tacit agreements that only have the silence, not the entente. I associate it with Kerstin Ekman's 'Handelser vid vatten'/Blackwater

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. The writing was beautifully done but I found it a little slow. I kept expecting a twist and nothing really ever happened. Even the guilt-after-accident-sequence, which I usually love, seemed to drag a little.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really enjoyed this book...it was well written, interesting plot and kept me interested in a pretty unlikeable cast of characters.

spoiler-ish ************** do not wait for the final curtain to fall with a wicked twist. not sure why they chose that review for the cover.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book a little difficult to get into, but once the two story lines introduced in the beginning converged, I was hooked. The story is interesting and it explores some thoughtful topics, like who we truly are versus who we seem to be.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ultimately found this book disappointing. To me, the personalities involved in the disappearance/murder were not arresting enough for me to feel drawn in by what was going on, and the ending felt as if threads were still trailing. A downer.

[Djrmel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main plot is interesting, the sense of place is fantastic, and the characters come with enough baggage for four or five books. I wish the author had spent less time telling us about what was going on inside these characters, and more time showing us how their relationships were changing them.

[Lauren Haldeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is this going to be CREEPY?

[Laural · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugh i didnt even finish this book- it was soo boring.

[Amanda Smart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weekend or beach reading--it's like a mini-vacation for your brain!

[Jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked where this book was going, delving into the private lives of the cottagers and "townies" but I felt like the relationships were not completely developed.

[Ryan]

Maybe later cause right now I'm not in the proper frame of mind to track the comings and goings of people named Laurel, Greg, and Nicholas.