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Remembering Blue
Emotionally neglected by her mother, abandoned by her father, Mattie O’Rourke spent her childhood starved for the one thing she thought she’d never love. When her mother dies and, at twenty-two, she finds herself completely without ties of any kind, Mattie takes a chance at ending her loneliness and moves to a tiny coastal Florida town. At the Suwannee Swifty convenience store, a sea change envelops her. Mattie O’Rourke sees Proteus Nicholas Blue and their fate is sealed after only a few shy, stolen glances.
Nick walks into Mattie’s life having fled his own. A lifelong fisherman from a remote island off the coast, Nick is haunted by the certain knowledge that the sea will be the death of him (as it has been for all the Blue men) and he has resolved to leave it behind. But as Nick and Mattie settle into an intimacy that both comforts and surprises them, Nick feels the inextricable pull of the waxing moon’s tide and the siren’s call of the dolphins that, Blue legend has it, are his brethren.
And so it is that Mattie, who only months before felt that happiness would never find her, returns with Nick to the island home that nurtured him and finds herself embraced by a large and loving family and an alluring and sensual landscape. Life on Lethe is transforming for Mattie. But Nick always knew that the sea would claim him, and all of Mattie’s love cannot prevent the tragedy that is their destiny.
Moving and enchanting, Remembering Blue is a lush story of love, loss, and the mythic power of the ocean, told in an elegant and passionate voice that could only come from Connie May Fowler.
Nick walks into Mattie’s life having fled his own. A lifelong fisherman from a remote island off the coast, Nick is haunted by the certain knowledge that the sea will be the death of him (as it has been for all the Blue men) and he has resolved to leave it behind. But as Nick and Mattie settle into an intimacy that both comforts and surprises them, Nick feels the inextricable pull of the waxing moon’s tide and the siren’s call of the dolphins that, Blue legend has it, are his brethren.
And so it is that Mattie, who only months before felt that happiness would never find her, returns with Nick to the island home that nurtured him and finds herself embraced by a large and loving family and an alluring and sensual landscape. Life on Lethe is transforming for Mattie. But Nick always knew that the sea would claim him, and all of Mattie’s love cannot prevent the tragedy that is their destiny.
Moving and enchanting, Remembering Blue is a lush story of love, loss, and the mythic power of the ocean, told in an elegant and passionate voice that could only come from Connie May Fowler.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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556 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
August 19, 2009
I had forgotten how much I love this book and its characters. Nick Blue is the man we all want to love, and are also afraid to love. This book reminded me that in my soul I am a romantic- I love the part where Mattie fantasies about being trapped inside the house with Nick during a hurricane, and grilling gruyere sandwiches together. This is something that I would think about, and after I read this, it is something I want to do, hunker down during a snowstorm (I am in Michigan)with my husband and grill gruyere sandwiches too.
August 20, 2009
I loved this story. It was a little difficult for me to get into at first, I struggled through it. I found myself not into the early remembering passages, I just couldn't feel their power. But when I finally forced myself to push through it - I was so glad I did. This love story is powerful and fragile. I could feel and taste the salt and wind of the gulf. My heart rate accelerated towards the end when I wondered just which scene would be Nicholas's final one and my tears flowed when it came. But the sweet surprise at the end left me with hope and joy.
I can't wait to read more of her books.
I can't wait to read more of her books.
July 5, 2017
Poetry in prose - a paean to nature. I have never read a book with so much fervent love of the sea - every description throughout the story draws a perfect picture of life amid the Gulf of Mexico. This is the Florida Tim Dorsey DOESNT write about!! This was a 5+ - I am looking forward to the other novels by this author. I'll just close with a big WOW 🐬
April 20, 2008
I adore this book, it is set in an area of North Florida I grew up in and is near and dear to my heart I just totally got it. I felt like i knew every character. Next time you head to the beach pick it up and spend some time alone with Blue. I was sad when it ended.
June 15, 2011
I cried and cried and cried and cried when I read this novel. I recognized all the landmarks. I identified with the story and my heart truly broke--these characters touched me to my very soul.
May 27, 2019
"Mattie, Mattie, sweetheart, I love you."
"It's all so surprising. Here we are, staring into the jaws of a new century and I at twenty-five years of age am left to ponder the world as if I were a woman of eighty. My remembrance, my meditation on Nick Blue--who he was and why his life was important--is a simple act by a grieving wife, yet his story cannot be told to the exclusion of mine."
That is the very start of this sweet book. Right off the bat, you know that this is a young woman, now widowed, who loved and was loved by her husband. She goes on to tell of her early life, before Nick, how she was abandoned by her father at the age of seven. Her self-centered mother did nothing to prepare her for adulthood. She was shy and a dreamer who loved books but really didn't know about life.
The book is so sweet, the love between Nick and Mattie was delightful. It takes place at the Big Bend of Florida on the Gulf Coast, most of it on the island of Lethe populated mostly by the Blue family of Greek fishermen. Throughout the book, the story is a so lovely but the knowledge you have from the beginning that Nick will die young makes the reader anxious about where in the story this event will occur. Will it happen next, no - this next part, no - it makes the story move but you aren't sure you want to get to that part where Nick leaves the story.
The abandonment of Mattie by her father is only on instance of abandonment in this story. I really feel that it is a secondary theme in the book.
The author is very good at describing the island and mainland in this part of Florida Since I live about 90 minutes south and inland of this area, and have visited it occasionally I appreciated this about the story. The storms and the sounds she describes are very real. I highly recommend this story.
"It's all so surprising. Here we are, staring into the jaws of a new century and I at twenty-five years of age am left to ponder the world as if I were a woman of eighty. My remembrance, my meditation on Nick Blue--who he was and why his life was important--is a simple act by a grieving wife, yet his story cannot be told to the exclusion of mine."
That is the very start of this sweet book. Right off the bat, you know that this is a young woman, now widowed, who loved and was loved by her husband. She goes on to tell of her early life, before Nick, how she was abandoned by her father at the age of seven. Her self-centered mother did nothing to prepare her for adulthood. She was shy and a dreamer who loved books but really didn't know about life.
The book is so sweet, the love between Nick and Mattie was delightful. It takes place at the Big Bend of Florida on the Gulf Coast, most of it on the island of Lethe populated mostly by the Blue family of Greek fishermen. Throughout the book, the story is a so lovely but the knowledge you have from the beginning that Nick will die young makes the reader anxious about where in the story this event will occur. Will it happen next, no - this next part, no - it makes the story move but you aren't sure you want to get to that part where Nick leaves the story.
The abandonment of Mattie by her father is only on instance of abandonment in this story. I really feel that it is a secondary theme in the book.
The author is very good at describing the island and mainland in this part of Florida Since I live about 90 minutes south and inland of this area, and have visited it occasionally I appreciated this about the story. The storms and the sounds she describes are very real. I highly recommend this story.
April 23, 2024
I might give this another try next year
December 26, 2007
This is a beautiful story of a woman with no past. A bleak start - deserted by her father and neglected by her mohter. She lives in books and fog until she meets her destiny in the convenience store in which she works. Thus begins her journey into discovering her self. A wonderful family embraces her and her garden becomes a metaphor for self growth. First a yard covered with rubble, debris, and magical gems - divided into three incomprehensible piles - tossed, repaired, or cherished. Then tilled under, planted, and nourished until flourishing. This is how the life of Mattie Blue begins again.
July 26, 2012
This is the supreme love story. The heroine, Matty, finds love in a Greek fishing settlement off the coast of Florida. She has been starved and hungry for love her entire life due to her cold and indifferent parents. She finds the man and falls in love with him, his family and his way of life. Her love is poignant and satisfying. Her husband, Blue, is a bottomless character who becomes real in Fowler's beautiful book full of unique imagery and masterful language.
August 18, 2018
so visually and wonderfully written, you feel a part of the story. A little romance,a dash of redemption, a salty tale, the ties that bind and sever families, and throw in a hurricane for good measure. I love the complicated story Connie May Fowler weaves and I'm only left pondering can salt water cure a broken heart.
August 14, 2018
First: this book has no chapters. Yes, there breaks between paragraphs, but no chapters. It's just one long, awesome story. Second: it starts out slow, but draws you in. Third: It is a story you will remember for a long, long time. Enjoy!
November 5, 2020
Adding this in 2020 but I actually read it in 2005. It was a memorable book and when I read it I listed it in my top 10 books. Living in Tallahassee at the time I appreciated the setting along the Florida Gulf Coast and recognized many locations as well as the local cultural influences.
January 8, 2021
Excellent connective energy to touch so many. A mystical experience, yet pure in what actually transpires at raw truth revealed. Excellent experience in gratitude and humility of a full circle connecting to "higher consciousness".
August 12, 2019
I don't remember if this was the first book by Connie May Fowler that I read, but it left a beautiful, haunting mark that I still have not shaken. I highly recommend.
May 17, 2024
I just couldn't get into this book. It certainly wasn't 4/5 stars for me. I don't like it when a book doesn't have chapters either :(
February 8, 2025
This book is based in my hometown! Beautiful story!
January 4, 2017
I have no interest in remembering Blue.
October 2, 2023
An oldie from my bookshelves. Sorry I waited so long to read it. Slow at the beginning but such a lovely love story.
February 17, 2016
Obwohl es eigentlich unbedeutend sein sollte, zählen für mich beim Lesevergnügen auch Cover und Titel mit hinein. Oftmals lasse ich ein Buch linksliegen, wenn es mir vom Äußeren her nicht gefällt (zum Leidwesen der armen Bücher), bin aber wiederum auch dann schon enttäuscht worden, wenn es rundherum schön aussah, der Inhalt mir aber so gar nicht gefiel. Daher wagte ich es bei diesem Roman einfach: das - für mich - unansehnliche Cover und der etwas kitschig klingende Titel schreckten mich ab, aber die Beschreibung sagte mir ohne jeden Zweifel zu. Und ich wurde positiv überrascht. Die Geschichte rund um Mattie und Nick ist einfach zauberhaft geschrieben und der gute Schreibstil der Autorin hat ein erstaunlich hohes literarisches Niveau, was mir mehr als zugesagt hat. Die wahnsinnig wunderschön und einzigartige beschriebene Beziehung zwischen Nick und Mattie ist zusätzlich ein Pluspunkt, weil man als Leserin einfach nicht anders kann, als diese beiden zu lieben.
April 17, 2012
This was my second read of the book, having read it years ago I came across it and decided to read it again since I couldn't really remember what it was about. That's one thing, the cover and blurb were so appealing it made me read it twice! Since I also lived in FL for 6 years and recently relocated to TN the book made me homesick for FL. I would love to move back.
As for the book itself, I really enjoyed the narrative of the recent widow and her story of how she met and fell in love with a fisherman named Nick Blue. While it wasn't a secret, the reader knows near the beginning that she will end up alone, it's a touching story and really stresses the strength of women and family. A good, good read.
As for the book itself, I really enjoyed the narrative of the recent widow and her story of how she met and fell in love with a fisherman named Nick Blue. While it wasn't a secret, the reader knows near the beginning that she will end up alone, it's a touching story and really stresses the strength of women and family. A good, good read.
March 1, 2010
I found this book and the author's writing technique very difficult to get into. In other cases, I may have even give up on it, but I persisted because I was determined to find out how Nick Blue inevitably dies.
I did think that some of Ms. Fowler's descriptions of Florida and the sea were beautiful, but I think she could have left some of it in less detail. I for one, could have really benefited from more background on Mattie and Nick's time together and/or Mattie's adolescence.
I would be interested in reading another one of Ms. Fowler's books, in particular, Before Women had Wings which was much more well-received and was adapated into a TV movie for Oprah Winfrey.
I did think that some of Ms. Fowler's descriptions of Florida and the sea were beautiful, but I think she could have left some of it in less detail. I for one, could have really benefited from more background on Mattie and Nick's time together and/or Mattie's adolescence.
I would be interested in reading another one of Ms. Fowler's books, in particular, Before Women had Wings which was much more well-received and was adapated into a TV movie for Oprah Winfrey.
December 8, 2016
There were many love stories in this book. Nick and Mattie shared a deep, very romantic love. Lillian's eternal love for her husband. Grandparents, brothers, sons, everyone has a love story. But what moved me most was Mattie learning to love herself. Being open to accepting Nick's love, esp. since she hadn't been "beloved" as a child. She wan't cautious and dubious, she plunged right into loving Nick. She navigated the foreign waters of a large new family. She was open to moving to a tiny island, open to learning about gardening and cooking, college studies and her whole new island life, that she made into a paradise. Letting love in opens up the world.
April 22, 2008
One of those books that I would have overlooked were it not for a personal recommendation, due to its off-putting cover and plot description.
Essentially also an off-putting plot for me - love and lost love stuff. But elevated wholly by the setting and the writing. How can I resist people whose passion for each other is only rivalled by their passion for the sea.
I also loved the confessional tone the narrator took. I felt throughout like she was addressing the story just to me. I liked the way the ending was a known shadow creeping ever closer all the time.
Essentially also an off-putting plot for me - love and lost love stuff. But elevated wholly by the setting and the writing. How can I resist people whose passion for each other is only rivalled by their passion for the sea.
I also loved the confessional tone the narrator took. I felt throughout like she was addressing the story just to me. I liked the way the ending was a known shadow creeping ever closer all the time.
May 3, 2009
This is one of those rare books for me where the writing impressed me but the story let me down. I loved the descriptions of people, events, and feelings, but the actual plot was kind of dry. You knew going into it that Nick dies and the whole book is a lead up to that... but when it comes around, it was pretty anti-climatic.
This isn't to say that the book is unenjoyable though. It was lyrical. The descriptions of her life with Nick were beautiful and even though I knew it was going to have a tragic ending, I found myself pulling for them.
This isn't to say that the book is unenjoyable though. It was lyrical. The descriptions of her life with Nick were beautiful and even though I knew it was going to have a tragic ending, I found myself pulling for them.
March 21, 2009
I just really really liked this book. I always looked forward to reading it. The author does a great job of creating a sense of place. It took place in the Gulf islands area of Florida near Tallahassee where my mom lives. I did a lot of driving around this are for my job when I lived there so it was very vivid for me. It made me miss being near the ocean. I loved all the characters in this book and it is a very nice love story.
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April 18, 2014so i bought this book at booksale coz I think that reading a second-hand book feels more interesting rather than buying a new one.
About this book, I don't know where my imagination would take me due to the impressive talent of the writer. The way she twistes the words is brief and clear. Not to mention that she is too powerful she inspired me to write! I'm still at the first part of the book and I'm hoping to finish it this week.
About this book, I don't know where my imagination would take me due to the impressive talent of the writer. The way she twistes the words is brief and clear. Not to mention that she is too powerful she inspired me to write! I'm still at the first part of the book and I'm hoping to finish it this week.
April 14, 2008
I loved the beginning of the book but my enthusiasm started to wane at the halfway point. It's a love story set in the panhandle of Florida, an area I have visited, so I enjoyed being able to "picture" what the author was describing. As a matter of fact, I was on vacation there when I started the book. However, I expected it to be much more touching.
April 23, 2013
Tremendous.
I challenge anyone to read this without crying. Hell, I challenge anyone to read this without crying ONLY when Blue dies, which we know from page one-- from the title!-- is coming. (How can you cry when you know it's coming? Oh, you can.)
Just the most heartfelt, poignant, poetic, beautiful language, characters, story... Just about impeccable.
I challenge anyone to read this without crying. Hell, I challenge anyone to read this without crying ONLY when Blue dies, which we know from page one-- from the title!-- is coming. (How can you cry when you know it's coming? Oh, you can.)
Just the most heartfelt, poignant, poetic, beautiful language, characters, story... Just about impeccable.
October 14, 2013
I love Connie May Fowlers writing so I could read her if it was a manual on toilet repair. Beautiful imagery and descriptions in this book which was too short. Maybe not my favorite of her books though because she started with the ending so I knew it would be sad. I would have preferred to hold out hope longer. Fascinating characters and setting.
June 19, 2014
I read this as part of a Winter Reading program at a prestigious college ten years ago, which is a polite way of saying that I was forced to read it. If my grades and, subsequently, my future career were not at stake, then I would not have been able to willingly rake my eyeballs over the "greeting card" poetic level of prose-words cobbled together which make this a book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews