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Tidal Flats
WINNER of the Independent Publisher Book Awards 2020 GOLD MEDAL in LITERARY FICTION
WINNER of the 14th Annual National Indie Excellence AWARD for FICTION
WINNER of the 14th Annual National Indie Excellence AWARD for BOOK COVER DESIGN: FICTION
This is the story of a marriage.
Mary Cassatt Miller falls for famous photojournalist Ethan Graham, who is equally in love with her. But for months at a time, Ethan’s work takes him to the dangerous streets of Afghanistan, and Cass wants a husband who comes home at night. Then there’s the issue of family—he wants one; she doesn’t.
What Cass and Ethan do want is a life together, so Ethan agrees that after three years, he will stop traveling—whether Cass agrees to children or not.
Now, nine weeks before their third anniversary, the day Ethan will be home for good, Cass worries he will try to squeeze in one last trip to Afghanistan and wonders if he will ever give up the work he loves. And if he won’t, well, that’s it.
As the clock counts down, it doesn’t help that Singer, the artist-bartender, is always in Atlanta, and the enthralling Setara, the subject of Ethan’s most famous photograph, is also his business partner.
Then, a new danger in Afghanistan changes everything.
In this elegant and honest debut novel, one couple must navigate that fine line between the things they want for themselves and the life they want together, and it appears that each will have to make a choice—the person they love or the life they want.
WINNER of the 14th Annual National Indie Excellence AWARD for FICTION
WINNER of the 14th Annual National Indie Excellence AWARD for BOOK COVER DESIGN: FICTION
This is the story of a marriage.
Mary Cassatt Miller falls for famous photojournalist Ethan Graham, who is equally in love with her. But for months at a time, Ethan’s work takes him to the dangerous streets of Afghanistan, and Cass wants a husband who comes home at night. Then there’s the issue of family—he wants one; she doesn’t.
What Cass and Ethan do want is a life together, so Ethan agrees that after three years, he will stop traveling—whether Cass agrees to children or not.
Now, nine weeks before their third anniversary, the day Ethan will be home for good, Cass worries he will try to squeeze in one last trip to Afghanistan and wonders if he will ever give up the work he loves. And if he won’t, well, that’s it.
As the clock counts down, it doesn’t help that Singer, the artist-bartender, is always in Atlanta, and the enthralling Setara, the subject of Ethan’s most famous photograph, is also his business partner.
Then, a new danger in Afghanistan changes everything.
In this elegant and honest debut novel, one couple must navigate that fine line between the things they want for themselves and the life they want together, and it appears that each will have to make a choice—the person they love or the life they want.
- GenresFictionContemporary
318 pages, Hardcover
First published August 10, 2019
20 people are currently reading
1962 people want to read
About the author
Cynthia Newberry Martin
4 books79 followersI grew up in the sixties in the heart of Atlanta, went to college in North Carolina, spent a year teaching English in France, practiced law, and had kids. French was my first passion, but I had a free moment back in late 90's, and when I thought about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, I thought, books are so cool and I decided I wanted to do what they did. Currently, I spend my days in Columbus, GA, with my husband, and in Provincetown, MA, in a little house by the water. Provincetown is my favorite place on earth.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
July 22, 2019
A fabulous debut novel by a writer who clearly knows her craft, Tidal Flats is a story about the complexity of marriage, but the understandings gleaned are applicable to the complexity in all relationships, as you will see for yourself. It's about the many facets of love, the glint and the glare, the pace, the progression. It's about love in its silky smooth places and about the subtle tugs and tears that can snag. More quietly, it's about finding meaning through friendship, in one case, in an unlikely ally. Ultimately, it's about the question of the choices we make, the promises we try to keep, the regrets, because when there's the choice of gaining one thing, there is fundamentally the regret of losing the other. Tidal Flats asks: "Which regret are you most willing to live with?"
In skillful prose worth taking your time to linger over, with a leaning towards character arc, at the same time, Tidal Flats will keep you turning pages. There is great story here! It's rare to find a debut that feels like it's been written by a pro. Cynthia Newberry Martin has done it!
In skillful prose worth taking your time to linger over, with a leaning towards character arc, at the same time, Tidal Flats will keep you turning pages. There is great story here! It's rare to find a debut that feels like it's been written by a pro. Cynthia Newberry Martin has done it!
September 20, 2019
I have been reading Cynthia Newberry Martin's blog How We Spend Our Days for several years and when she announced the publication of a novel I knew I would read it for I loved her quiet elegance and unique style.
I read Tidal Flats in two sittings; had I started it earlier in the day I would have read it in one!
"Up ahead she was surprised to see that the rocks veered quite dramatically to the left. When they'd started out, it had looked like a straight shot."~ from Tidal Flats by Cynthia Newberry Martin
After meeting Ethan, Cass has one future in mind: just her and Ethan together, forever. Ethan is an intrepid photographer who works in Afghanistan, his photographs featured on national magazines, indelibly etched images that include a portrait of the amber-eyed Afghani woman Setara.
Ethan needs Cass and he needs Afghanistan. Cass needs only Ethan. On the tidal flats one wet morning, Cass following Ethan across the treacherous rocks, they make a pact: Ethan will work three more years abroad, and Cass will consider having a child.
They marry and Cass waits at home alone, aware she can never have a child, knowing that events in her past have shut the door on any future as a mother.
Cass spends her days working at a home for elderly women where her soul is fed, a place that is better for her being there. The women have much to teach Cass. "Look for the good things," she is told,"Your heart may surprise you some day." And, "Plans are good, but life is the thing. Living. And dancing even when the music changes."
Cass counts the days until Ethan is pledged to stay by her side, agonizing over her inability to agree to children. Life veers off her planned path when Ethan's fidelity becomes suspect.
"Life is like that ride where you swirl so fast, you stick to the side, the bottom falls out, and you're free."~from Tidal Flats by Cynthia Newberry Martin
As Cass wrestles with the demons of her past and the uncertainties of her present, she must decide what kind of future she wants to choose for herself: sticking to her plan or learning to forgive and embrace the life she may not want, but needs.
This haunting novel is a memorable read.
I read Tidal Flats in two sittings; had I started it earlier in the day I would have read it in one!
"Up ahead she was surprised to see that the rocks veered quite dramatically to the left. When they'd started out, it had looked like a straight shot."~ from Tidal Flats by Cynthia Newberry Martin
After meeting Ethan, Cass has one future in mind: just her and Ethan together, forever. Ethan is an intrepid photographer who works in Afghanistan, his photographs featured on national magazines, indelibly etched images that include a portrait of the amber-eyed Afghani woman Setara.
Ethan needs Cass and he needs Afghanistan. Cass needs only Ethan. On the tidal flats one wet morning, Cass following Ethan across the treacherous rocks, they make a pact: Ethan will work three more years abroad, and Cass will consider having a child.
They marry and Cass waits at home alone, aware she can never have a child, knowing that events in her past have shut the door on any future as a mother.
Cass spends her days working at a home for elderly women where her soul is fed, a place that is better for her being there. The women have much to teach Cass. "Look for the good things," she is told,"Your heart may surprise you some day." And, "Plans are good, but life is the thing. Living. And dancing even when the music changes."
Cass counts the days until Ethan is pledged to stay by her side, agonizing over her inability to agree to children. Life veers off her planned path when Ethan's fidelity becomes suspect.
"Life is like that ride where you swirl so fast, you stick to the side, the bottom falls out, and you're free."~from Tidal Flats by Cynthia Newberry Martin
As Cass wrestles with the demons of her past and the uncertainties of her present, she must decide what kind of future she wants to choose for herself: sticking to her plan or learning to forgive and embrace the life she may not want, but needs.
This haunting novel is a memorable read.
February 10, 2020
I hate to find a book with a 4.5+ rating on here and then be apparently the only one who didn't like it, but ughhhhh. This felt like it was trying too hard - to be poetic and have some deep meaning about love and forgiveness, but it felt forced. The main characters were, in my opinion, unlikeable and the most interesting side characters (The Fates) were relegated to just that, a side role. I didn't enjoy the writing of this novel. It felt jilted and forced with lines like, "For the next week, as if she were recuperating from an illness and needed to build up her strength, Cass took a break from people. Vee understood, and they texted." I couldn't sink into the book, if that makes sense. Every storyline felt an arms-length away. Cass is CONSTANTLY squeezing herself out on the balcony for air, constantly aware of the wind, constantly being absorbed into the darkness, etc etc. So much of this felt strained and labored, it just really wasn't for me.
October 6, 2019
The story of a marriage that began with a pact. I loved following Cass through this novel as she navigated the terrain of marriage and her past. The book brings forth the history that bound her to a rather rigid view of what was possible in her life. She also contemplates the timely question of whether or not to have children, and I think this is so present right now for women. Birth rates are down in the US and the question of whether or not to reproduce looms large. It's a timely novel in this way. I really loved devouring this tale. It's quick paced with charming relationships that bring other questions about love and monogamy to the surface as needling points in the narrative. I'm looking forward to her this author's next book!
December 28, 2019
This is a spare book: about feelings, yearnings, giving and taking, ultimately forgiveness. It reminded me of a play, because its cast of characters is small, as is the setting--mainly Atlanta, but also Provincetown, Mass., and Afghanistan from a distance. There is a sense of intimacy as desires and needs--and a few fears--are identified, sorted through, worked out. I enjoyed the book very much and warmly recommend it.
November 20, 2019
I am not drawn to stories about marriage, so described - no reason why, just that marriage (conceptually speaking) follows lots of other things on my list of reading interests: soil ecology, textiles, otters, bullshit jobs. But I could not put this book down. It's a great study in what makes compelling writing (and how to write better): momentum, gorgeous prose, stakes, tension, thoughtfully crafted characters. Really enjoyable book that GOES.
July 21, 2019
Cynthia Newberry Martin’s debut novel, Tidal Flats is a powerful, fast-paced story about a man and a woman who struggle to keep their marriage intact against all odds.
The reader sees through the eyes of Mary Cassatt Miller (Cass), a young woman living a seemingly fulfilling life in Atlanta. Cass enjoys her work at Howell House, a non-profit retirement home; she loves her husband, Ethan Graham, a successful photo journalist, and she has devoted friends including the wonderful “Fates” (the nickname for the residents of Howell House) and her best friend, Vee.
There is only one thing impeding Cass’s happiness: Ethan cannot separate himself from Afghanistan, the place where he took the prize-winning photograph, “The Afghan Woman.” The subject of this famous portrait later becomes Ethan’s business partner. Cass tries to repress her jealousy of this strong, beautiful woman, telling herself her feelings are complicated by the death of her father while on duty in Afghanistan, but there’s more to Cass’s rising unhappiness.
Before they marry, Ethan promises he will stop traveling to Afghanistan after three years, at which time he would like to have children. Cass tells him she does not want children and eventually Ethan agrees that either with or without a baby, he will stop traveling. But Ethen has unfinished business in Afghanistan, and Cass doubts he will ever be able to commit to a life at home with her.
The book takes some surprising turns which I will not spoil. But what interests me has less to do with plot twists than it has to do with Cass’s inner turmoil. Cass comes to recognize that her relationship with her mother, as well as other events from her childhood, are more detrimental to her inability to move forward than is Ethan’s attachment to Afghanistan.
Reading Tidal Flats is like taking a journey that never slows. In the end, it’s so much more than a love story, it’s a story of hope.
The reader sees through the eyes of Mary Cassatt Miller (Cass), a young woman living a seemingly fulfilling life in Atlanta. Cass enjoys her work at Howell House, a non-profit retirement home; she loves her husband, Ethan Graham, a successful photo journalist, and she has devoted friends including the wonderful “Fates” (the nickname for the residents of Howell House) and her best friend, Vee.
There is only one thing impeding Cass’s happiness: Ethan cannot separate himself from Afghanistan, the place where he took the prize-winning photograph, “The Afghan Woman.” The subject of this famous portrait later becomes Ethan’s business partner. Cass tries to repress her jealousy of this strong, beautiful woman, telling herself her feelings are complicated by the death of her father while on duty in Afghanistan, but there’s more to Cass’s rising unhappiness.
Before they marry, Ethan promises he will stop traveling to Afghanistan after three years, at which time he would like to have children. Cass tells him she does not want children and eventually Ethan agrees that either with or without a baby, he will stop traveling. But Ethen has unfinished business in Afghanistan, and Cass doubts he will ever be able to commit to a life at home with her.
The book takes some surprising turns which I will not spoil. But what interests me has less to do with plot twists than it has to do with Cass’s inner turmoil. Cass comes to recognize that her relationship with her mother, as well as other events from her childhood, are more detrimental to her inability to move forward than is Ethan’s attachment to Afghanistan.
Reading Tidal Flats is like taking a journey that never slows. In the end, it’s so much more than a love story, it’s a story of hope.
May 20, 2021
A wonderful debut novel by Cynthia Newberry Martin that brings the reader into the heart of a complex relationship and makes you question how much is too much to give up of yourself for the sake of a marriage. With beautiful prose and captivating descriptions of Afghanistan, we are rooting for Cass and Ethan to make the right choices, even as we struggle ourselves to know what is best for them in the end.
September 16, 2019
Excellent, clear writing, but parts of the story weren't believable to me and the overall theme felt regressive. It all felt much too contrived. Ultimately, a disappointment.
will-not-read
April 30, 2024Not for me. It's a cheating marriage-in-trouble romance with my LEAST favorite trope. Spoiler:
December 11, 2024
Hated the storyline of this book. I borrowed the audio from the library and listened while I baked. The FMC was totally messed up in the head and the MMC was selfish expecting the h to make all the sacrifices.
The fmc was threatened by his business partner, and aphgan woman. She was married for her convenience. The first 65% of this book was the FMC woe is me monologues while waiting for her husband to come and go from Afghanistan leaving her alone.
When he and his business partner get in danger and thingk they might die they make love . I’m like really???? It’s described they are laying face down in dirt to avoid getting shot so they decide to screw??? Then 14 months later OW and H get kidnapped and OW is killed then he find out the baby she just had is his. 😞
I needed more on the business partner and his relationship. What after the first encounter happened. Why didn’t she tell him she had his baby.
Really disliked this read
The fmc was threatened by his business partner, and aphgan woman. She was married for her convenience. The first 65% of this book was the FMC woe is me monologues while waiting for her husband to come and go from Afghanistan leaving her alone.
When he and his business partner get in danger and thingk they might die they make love . I’m like really???? It’s described they are laying face down in dirt to avoid getting shot so they decide to screw??? Then 14 months later OW and H get kidnapped and OW is killed then he find out the baby she just had is his. 😞
I needed more on the business partner and his relationship. What after the first encounter happened. Why didn’t she tell him she had his baby.
Really disliked this read
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 16, 2019
Thoughtful and nuanced, Cynthia Newberry Martin’s masterful sentences build a gripping narrative about how the best of intentions can fracture a marriage. Tidal Flats reminds readers that love is a verb, a decision, a choice one decides to make each day. Martin explores the conflicting obligations individuals agree to in devotion to partners, professions, and communities, local and abroad. Cass and Ethan’s journey reflects the strength we all might find in compromise, in choosing to be open to loss. It’s a remarkable story about how promises can shatter and reshape the life one thinks they should live.
January 29, 2020
Mary and Ethan have made a marriage together, but the question still remains as to whether they'll make a life. From the tidal flats of Cape Cod to the war zones of Afghanistan, the couple encounter no easy answers. Cynthia Newberry Martin's well-paced prose pulls readers through her book with an elegant force. Full of love and betrayal, wisdom and defeat, Martin drives her story up to a stunning conclusion. Thank you for this engaging read, Cynthia! I couldn't put it down.
February 24, 2020
This is a beach read which might have been a more serious and engaging book. The primary plot, the push and pull of the marriage of Ethan and Cass, I'll address in a moment. The secondary plot, Cass' job as director of a small non-profit, is absurd, from her without-warning anointing to the job, to the incredible wisdom of her elderly clients, then the magical nature of her fundraising efforts, is entirely romanticized, not a realistic moment in it. While the primary plot has merit in its depiction of a couple who made promises they couldn't keep, it stumbles, too. Martin's method of depicting the couple's struggles lies in re-enacting the same incidents multiple times. How many times does Cass go to her favorite bar and flirt with the bartender? How many times does Ethan repeat himself regarding his adoration of Cass - then run off again to Afghanistan? How many times does Cass recall the moment that shaped her feelings about herself as a potential mother? It's possible to examine a problem from a variety of angles rather than just looking at the same point over and over again. The book would have benefited as well from multiple narrative perspectives. Cass is not an interesting enough character to carry the story. We know nothing about Ethan, a talented and successful photographer, or his artistic partner, Cass's nemesis., both of whom have complex lives and personal histories. The author thanks her editor, but her editor let her down. by not pushing her to write the better novel that I suspect this author is capable of.
June 13, 2024
This lyrical, beautiful novel raises many compelling questions about marriage and vocations. Among them: What if your spouse does something that irrevocably changes your marriage and its direction forever? What if the pact you made before marriage is broken by one event? What if you don't want a child but your spouse does? What if your job depends upon fundraising an incredible amount of dollars and you're not a fundraiser by nature? What if your spouse's job takes him into danger routinely and you're counting down the days until he stops traveling, all the while doubting if he'll ever give up the job and the place he so loves?
Cass and Ethan are young marrieds. They've made a pact (which beautifully coordinates with the title of the novel and is quite thematic, too), and readers delve into their story at the perfect time: near their three-year anniversary, when Ethan, a famous photographer/photojournalist who travels to Afghanistan during the days of American occupation, is taking one last trip to the country. Cass, who works at a really cool independent-living senior house, loves her job and gets a promotion--but even that comes with (realistic) strings attached: she's suddenly told that the wonderful senior house will shut down by the end of the year if she doesn't raise a huge sum of money.
This is a novel about responsibilities--both that we enter into willingly and with the best intentions (like marriage) and those that throw us curve balls we hadn't anticipated (in career, in life). This is also a wonderfully suspenseful novel about whether Cass will stay with Ethan once their marriage shifts or if she'll end up with Singer, the very friendly, flirty, supportive bartender who has always had a thing for her.
All of the characters, from the protagonists to supporting characters like Vee, her best friend, and Setara, Ethan's Afghan muse and business partner, are well-drawn, fully realistic, and interesting to read about. The setting, Atlanta, is also well-rendered and interesting. The chapters are perfectly paced as well.
Cynthia Newberry Martin has crafted a novel of swift pace, resonant characters, and compelling questions that I didn't want to put down. The Reading Guide of questions was also compelling and meaningful--and perfect for book clubs or for friends reading the book to talk about and/or for individual readers to reflect on.
If you like books about young marrieds, artists/photojournalists, books with love triangles, books set abroad and/or in Atlanta, books about deciding to have children or not, and/or lyrical fiction with compelling characters, particularly women characters, I'd highly recommend this novel.
Cass and Ethan are young marrieds. They've made a pact (which beautifully coordinates with the title of the novel and is quite thematic, too), and readers delve into their story at the perfect time: near their three-year anniversary, when Ethan, a famous photographer/photojournalist who travels to Afghanistan during the days of American occupation, is taking one last trip to the country. Cass, who works at a really cool independent-living senior house, loves her job and gets a promotion--but even that comes with (realistic) strings attached: she's suddenly told that the wonderful senior house will shut down by the end of the year if she doesn't raise a huge sum of money.
This is a novel about responsibilities--both that we enter into willingly and with the best intentions (like marriage) and those that throw us curve balls we hadn't anticipated (in career, in life). This is also a wonderfully suspenseful novel about whether Cass will stay with Ethan once their marriage shifts or if she'll end up with Singer, the very friendly, flirty, supportive bartender who has always had a thing for her.
All of the characters, from the protagonists to supporting characters like Vee, her best friend, and Setara, Ethan's Afghan muse and business partner, are well-drawn, fully realistic, and interesting to read about. The setting, Atlanta, is also well-rendered and interesting. The chapters are perfectly paced as well.
Cynthia Newberry Martin has crafted a novel of swift pace, resonant characters, and compelling questions that I didn't want to put down. The Reading Guide of questions was also compelling and meaningful--and perfect for book clubs or for friends reading the book to talk about and/or for individual readers to reflect on.
If you like books about young marrieds, artists/photojournalists, books with love triangles, books set abroad and/or in Atlanta, books about deciding to have children or not, and/or lyrical fiction with compelling characters, particularly women characters, I'd highly recommend this novel.
May 14, 2021
Have you ever been in a situation where you had a disagreement with someone that could end your whole relationship? Well for the main characters in the book Tidal Flats which is a realistic fiction book the two main characters who are struggling to keep their marriage intact this is the problem. Ethan loves to travel and work in Afghanistan and wants a family while Cass wants a husband who will be home at night and doesn't want a family. This story is about the two people trying to sort out what they want for themselves and what they want out of a relationship then suddenly there are problems in Afghanistan and things get complicated fast.
I liked this book because it was about a problem that many people go through and that I can see myself stumbling into someday trying to separate what I want in life and from a relationship and the problems that follow those goals are different. I would recommend this book to any high schooler because it isn't a book that dragged along for me and could actually apply to many people's situations.
I liked this book because it was about a problem that many people go through and that I can see myself stumbling into someday trying to separate what I want in life and from a relationship and the problems that follow those goals are different. I would recommend this book to any high schooler because it isn't a book that dragged along for me and could actually apply to many people's situations.
July 2, 2024
This isn't so much a story of a marriage as it is the story of a woman who is massively co-dependent on her husband and is forced by circumstances to examine herself and figure out what she really wants from life. I have slightly mixed feelings about this, maybe because I found the assertion that Ethan and Cass are wildly in love after three years of marriage to be dubious. They are wildly incompatible. Cass hates the thing that Ethan is most passionate about, arguably the heart of who he is, and she is adamantly against his dream of having children. Her main passion is missing Ethan when he's away. I don't understand how their relationship works or why they're together at all, but it is interesting to see Cass grow as a character throughout the book. The writing is beautiful, by the way, although characters tend to break into poetic monologues that don't seem realistic to me. I'd happily read more of this author's books in the future.
October 4, 2021
This book was simply “un-put-down-able.” Truly the story of a marriage, as advertised, Tidal Flats digs deep into it all, the highs, the lows, and the ordinary in between.
Following the story of Ethan and Cass and the promises they made to one another, this novel is a refreshing reminder of the flawed state of the human condition. That promises are usually made between two imperfect people. And that what it all really boils down to are our actions, reactions, and even inactions.
A unique tale that stirs familiar emotions, Tidal Flats was everything I wanted it to be and more. Cynthia Newberry Martin is a delight and an amazing storyteller. This book is a gift I will treasure always.
Following the story of Ethan and Cass and the promises they made to one another, this novel is a refreshing reminder of the flawed state of the human condition. That promises are usually made between two imperfect people. And that what it all really boils down to are our actions, reactions, and even inactions.
A unique tale that stirs familiar emotions, Tidal Flats was everything I wanted it to be and more. Cynthia Newberry Martin is a delight and an amazing storyteller. This book is a gift I will treasure always.
October 9, 2022
Tidal Flats is a beautifully-told story of a young couple starting their marriage. Full of emotional complexity, the author’s treatment of love moved me deeply. In the real world, as in the novel, love does not always make us feel on top of the world. Sometimes, it means longing, frustration, and disappointment. At the same time we experience happy, close scenes between Cass and Ethan as they navigate Ethan’s long absences as a photojournalist in Afghanistan.
October 10, 2022
Tidal Flats is a moving and heartwarming novel about a marriage threatened by diverging desires, about the comforts of friendship and community, and about so much more. I'm excited to see what Cynthia Newberry Martin writes next.
"His bones to her bones. She'd been alone all her life it sometimes seemed. She knew alone; she could control it. This new country, shining off in the distance, scared her even as it drew her toward it."
"His bones to her bones. She'd been alone all her life it sometimes seemed. She knew alone; she could control it. This new country, shining off in the distance, scared her even as it drew her toward it."
January 11, 2021
I really like this book. I wasn't sure if the focus on marriage would interest me that much, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was very enjoyable. However I wanted to read it because its author is a blog friend, and I have been following her Catching Days and her new web site for quite a while.
It was very easy reading, with a nice pace and flow through the chapters.
It was very easy reading, with a nice pace and flow through the chapters.
December 28, 2021
3.5 stars for me. I won this book on good reads. It pulled me in right away although I can’t say that the main character was likable. But it was a good story Nonetheless, with somewhat of a predictable ending. But I did enjoy it
February 22, 2022
“Tidal Flats” is a novel where marriage and conflict are at the heart of the story.
This book is about what happens when two people who love each other have to wrestle with the fact that they have different career and family goals, and it’s done in beautiful prose.
This book is about what happens when two people who love each other have to wrestle with the fact that they have different career and family goals, and it’s done in beautiful prose.
April 5, 2022
The complexities of marriage and diverting dreams laid bare in a stunning debut and a landscape as rocky as the relationship it portrays. Quite simply, I loved it.
January 16, 2023
Beautifully written. Narration by the author in Audible version is wonderful.
November 15, 2023
Surprising twists and turns and attention to the interiority of the protagonist make this novel eventful and experiential in such a unique way. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
October 26, 2024
Read by a friend of mine
“Gorgeous, nuanced prose, good be a little aimless at times, however serious characters and realistic story. The end got a bit jumbled but overall a job well done”
“Gorgeous, nuanced prose, good be a little aimless at times, however serious characters and realistic story. The end got a bit jumbled but overall a job well done”
March 21, 2020
Well, sorry, I wasn't as wowed by this book as the fellow who recommended it to me. Good story, but the writing just didn't capture me.
February 26, 2020
I received this book from my partner for Valentine's Day. I am never sure how I will feel about a first novel, but in this case I can say, it is as good as it's reviewers said it was.
What would you do if you agreed to a pledge with the one you love, that involved either giving up the life you love as a photographer in a wartorn country, or your freedom to choose not to have children. Cass and Ethan have created an impossible situation for themselves and their "Tidal Flats" agreement.
Cynthia Newberry Martin beautifully captures the anguish, and the love of a newly married couple,with the grace of a writer who clearly knows people. Read this book, it may cause you to lose sleep, but sometimes it is worth it.
What would you do if you agreed to a pledge with the one you love, that involved either giving up the life you love as a photographer in a wartorn country, or your freedom to choose not to have children. Cass and Ethan have created an impossible situation for themselves and their "Tidal Flats" agreement.
Cynthia Newberry Martin beautifully captures the anguish, and the love of a newly married couple,with the grace of a writer who clearly knows people. Read this book, it may cause you to lose sleep, but sometimes it is worth it.
October 29, 2019
I would label this novel by Cynthia Newberry Martin as a book about an unconventional marriage in trouble. In the story both parties want different outcomes of this marriage. She wants him and only him and he wants her, his life and job in Alghanistan and children. He spends most of his life in Alghanistan and seems only to vacation at home in Atlanta. In his photojournalist life he has one female partner, which would raise a red flag to me but I am the reader of this story.
Cass trusts Ethan until something happens to raise the red flag. Confused and angry things go from bad to worse and Cass wants out of this marriage. The ending is somewhat predictable but does not take away from this great first novel. I would recommend and already have and I have passed it on to a family member to read. This is a true and unbiased review of Tidal Flats by Cynthia Newberry Martin after receiving an advanced reader copy for an honest review.
Cass trusts Ethan until something happens to raise the red flag. Confused and angry things go from bad to worse and Cass wants out of this marriage. The ending is somewhat predictable but does not take away from this great first novel. I would recommend and already have and I have passed it on to a family member to read. This is a true and unbiased review of Tidal Flats by Cynthia Newberry Martin after receiving an advanced reader copy for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews