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Octavia's Hill
Tells the story of four generations of a rural Maine family, culminating in Tave Perry's struggle to survive a nuclear accident
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 20, 2023
I absolutely loved this book. I read it in one day, and last night I could not sleep for thinking of it.
What starts out as a slow read of a woman who seems to be realising she is just a hack at her paintings are just amateur, becomes her worst fear of having to go into the cellar to ride out a nuclear radioactivity fallout. So what? Nothing bad could happen. Many of us are afraid of the dark.
The story then moves back in time to her great-grandmother's story. Of the granddaughter and the father who is a tyrant. We learn later as the book progresses from woman to woman and back to Tave of each successive generation's trials and tribulations. It becomes apparent the Green family whom each generation of women avoid is actually the pivot of each woman's lives.
Interweaving at times in past and present storytelling of the same events, it becomes a story I just could not put down.
I thought on how each earlier woman would have difficult pregnancies only to not be able to have more than one child. However, the last female in our story has already broken this bad luck and has two children. Already we see a change which seems not related to the other women. It is only at the end we see her grow and develop out of her fears and become who she truly always wanted to be. Her life, it seems, has always been haunted by the previous women's past and all unbeknownst to her she had been taking on their fears and disappointments.
I did not want to go too detailed in this review as it would spoil it for many readers, but I wanted to share the idea of a book which seems to be a boring one to others, is actually a kind of black ombre style book. I loved it very much.
What starts out as a slow read of a woman who seems to be realising she is just a hack at her paintings are just amateur, becomes her worst fear of having to go into the cellar to ride out a nuclear radioactivity fallout. So what? Nothing bad could happen. Many of us are afraid of the dark.
The story then moves back in time to her great-grandmother's story. Of the granddaughter and the father who is a tyrant. We learn later as the book progresses from woman to woman and back to Tave of each successive generation's trials and tribulations. It becomes apparent the Green family whom each generation of women avoid is actually the pivot of each woman's lives.
Interweaving at times in past and present storytelling of the same events, it becomes a story I just could not put down.
I thought on how each earlier woman would have difficult pregnancies only to not be able to have more than one child. However, the last female in our story has already broken this bad luck and has two children. Already we see a change which seems not related to the other women. It is only at the end we see her grow and develop out of her fears and become who she truly always wanted to be. Her life, it seems, has always been haunted by the previous women's past and all unbeknownst to her she had been taking on their fears and disappointments.
I did not want to go too detailed in this review as it would spoil it for many readers, but I wanted to share the idea of a book which seems to be a boring one to others, is actually a kind of black ombre style book. I loved it very much.
July 26, 2017
I have read this book three different times in my life. It still scares the hell out of me. GREAT suspense/thriller!
April 17, 2020
A book full of surprises and strong characters. Interesting to read about people sheltering during a nuclear accident as we are going through sheltering in place.
March 1, 2016
Octavia's Hill, Margaret Dickson, RDC-M, #3-83, 1986. Fiction. Very good.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews