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Islands: A Beloved Southern Novel of Found Family and Enduring Lowcountry Friendship
“Anne Rivers Siddons’s novels are women’s stories in the best sense, pulling you into the internal landscape of her characters’ lives and holding you there.” – People
A poignant novel of the love that unites us and the secrets that drive us apart, Islands is New York Times bestselling author Anne Rivers Siddons at her lyrical best—a glorious evocation of the people and the place she knows so well.
Anny Butler is a caretaker, a nurturer, first for her own brothers and sisters, and then as a director of an agency devoted to the welfare of children. What she has never had is a real family. That changes when she meets and marries Lewis Aiken, an exuberant surgeon fifteen years older than Anny. When they marry, she finds her family—not a traditional one, but a group of Charleston childhood friends who are inseparable, who are one another's surrogate family. They are called the Scrubs, and they all, in some way, have the common cord of family.
Instantly upon meeting them at the old beach house on Sullivan's Island, which they co-own, Anny knows that she has found home and family. They vow that, when the time comes, they will find a place where they can live together by the sea.
Bad things begin to happen—a hurricane, a fire, deaths—but still the remaining Scrubs cling together. They are watched over and bolstered by Camilla Curry, the heart and core of their group, always the healer. Anny herself allows Camilla to enfold and to care for her. It is the first time she has felt this kind of love and support.
A poignant novel of the love that unites us and the secrets that drive us apart, Islands is New York Times bestselling author Anne Rivers Siddons at her lyrical best—a glorious evocation of the people and the place she knows so well.
Anny Butler is a caretaker, a nurturer, first for her own brothers and sisters, and then as a director of an agency devoted to the welfare of children. What she has never had is a real family. That changes when she meets and marries Lewis Aiken, an exuberant surgeon fifteen years older than Anny. When they marry, she finds her family—not a traditional one, but a group of Charleston childhood friends who are inseparable, who are one another's surrogate family. They are called the Scrubs, and they all, in some way, have the common cord of family.
Instantly upon meeting them at the old beach house on Sullivan's Island, which they co-own, Anny knows that she has found home and family. They vow that, when the time comes, they will find a place where they can live together by the sea.
Bad things begin to happen—a hurricane, a fire, deaths—but still the remaining Scrubs cling together. They are watched over and bolstered by Camilla Curry, the heart and core of their group, always the healer. Anny herself allows Camilla to enfold and to care for her. It is the first time she has felt this kind of love and support.
496 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2003
About the author
Anne Rivers Siddons
57 books1,334 followersBorn 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 lived in Charleston, South Carolina, and spent summers in Maine. Siddons died of lung cancer on September 11, 2019
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 lived in Charleston, South Carolina, and spent summers in Maine. Siddons died of lung cancer on September 11, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 435 reviews
May 12, 2010
I finished this book because the cover said "National Best Seller" and I thought - there has to be a reason this book is a best seller so I'm going to finish it!
I closed the book when I was finished thinking - nope - there wasn't a reason. People must have bought it for the author's name.
This is the second Siddons book I've read. I wasn't pleased with the first either. When the story started out in "Islands" I thought it had potential. I was in the world of Charleston and I learned a few things yet never quite felt I was "in" the lives. I liked the idea of the "Scrubs" - of a group of friends who became family and vowed to stay together and take care of each other. But the idea fell short. When the story began to unravel and the reader realizes that this group who seems untouchable and a bit unreal is in fact touchable and very much real - it was a let down. The way their threads unraveled all the more was even more of a let down. (There were several let downs for me in this book - the biggest of all the ending) I read another review where it spoke of little character detail. I agree with this very much. We really never got into the minds of the characters.
Overall, the book was a struggle to read and a struggle to finish. I was quite disappointed by the "surprise" ending and the way it just popped up. For me, the book was a somber tale of could be friendship with very little substance.
I closed the book when I was finished thinking - nope - there wasn't a reason. People must have bought it for the author's name.
This is the second Siddons book I've read. I wasn't pleased with the first either. When the story started out in "Islands" I thought it had potential. I was in the world of Charleston and I learned a few things yet never quite felt I was "in" the lives. I liked the idea of the "Scrubs" - of a group of friends who became family and vowed to stay together and take care of each other. But the idea fell short. When the story began to unravel and the reader realizes that this group who seems untouchable and a bit unreal is in fact touchable and very much real - it was a let down. The way their threads unraveled all the more was even more of a let down. (There were several let downs for me in this book - the biggest of all the ending) I read another review where it spoke of little character detail. I agree with this very much. We really never got into the minds of the characters.
Overall, the book was a struggle to read and a struggle to finish. I was quite disappointed by the "surprise" ending and the way it just popped up. For me, the book was a somber tale of could be friendship with very little substance.
August 29, 2023
3 stars
A longtime friend group of likable characters, slow and deliberate plot, loving relationships and a plot TWIST at the end!
A longtime friend group of likable characters, slow and deliberate plot, loving relationships and a plot TWIST at the end!
June 26, 2009
I didn't care much for this book. I didn't feel she went into detail enough about any of the characters. I felt more like the places were the main characters instead of the people. I didn't like the characters, I found them to be weird. A group of successful people with lots of money, several homes and families but they were all obsessed with an old dilapidated beach house and the crazy possessive Camilla. None of them seemed to have a connection with or cared much for their children or grand children. They all just wanted to pile up together at this beach house that they all owned together but crazy Camilla called all the shots. Very weird book. I would like to give the book negative 3 stars. The only thing going for this book was the plot twist at the end and if you paid close attention from the beginning you suspected this sort of thing to happen.
April 18, 2009
So, how do you write a review for a book for whom you clearly weren’t the intended audience, but you read it anyway? I read it because I was curious about the genre, even though I can’t really say what the genre is. I’m not even sure I know what the theme of the book was. It seems, on the surface, to be about the very ordinary lives of members of Charleston’s privileged society. When I was growing up, one of the favorite jokes in my house was how unrealistic television families were. But, we’d always counter, who would want to watch shows about normal people? The same thing applies to this book, why would anyone want to read a book about such normal people, as they lead their normal lives? They are loyal, or they have affairs. They survive hurricanes, and rebuild, or not. They mourn their dogs. They age. They drift apart and come together. The only conclusion I can come to is that the book is about feelings. This is the ultimate book of introspection, and if you’re really interested in how really ordinary people are feeling about everything and everybody, you might like this book. On the other hand, this wouldn’t be the first time I totally missed the point of a book.
I must say something about the writing. I never realized how sensitive I am to an author using the same phrase more than once in a book, probably because no other author has tested me this way. You wouldn’t think that out of the thousands of words in a book, you’d remember every one, but I think you do. In this book the author repeats her words, and it’s grating. The first time I read that someone felt “obscurely angry”, I was just puzzled, but when I read later someone was “obscurely fearful”, it bothered me. Same for “with every atom of her body”, “she was a Lolita”, and his heart was “hammering”.
I must say something about the writing. I never realized how sensitive I am to an author using the same phrase more than once in a book, probably because no other author has tested me this way. You wouldn’t think that out of the thousands of words in a book, you’d remember every one, but I think you do. In this book the author repeats her words, and it’s grating. The first time I read that someone felt “obscurely angry”, I was just puzzled, but when I read later someone was “obscurely fearful”, it bothered me. Same for “with every atom of her body”, “she was a Lolita”, and his heart was “hammering”.
February 27, 2012
I am a true Anne Rivers Siddons fan. I love most everything of hers I read. This book fell a little flat for me. It is written in the typical Siddons lyrical style with wonderful phrasing, elegant descriptions and her usual passion for her low country setting. My problem was with the plot which seemed to drag. I read to page 150 and stopped. I just wasn't engaged in what was going on with these characters. The initial romance was under developed. The group dynamics of the "Scrubs" was too narrow in focus, showing the group either grieving or whining over some incident. I kept waiting for something to happen that would make me want to turn the pages. Hate to give up on any book, especially a Siddons, but with all the wonderful books out there, well... sometimes it happens.
July 24, 2012
I have had this book for years now and kept reading the story synopsis then would put it back on the bookshelf, finally I was all out of other books so read this. Wow did I ever waste time waiting! This book was great, such a journey through life with all the characters. Never thought the ending would be so twisted but clever and it also answered questions u had throughout the story. What a wonderful book, tears and laughter, I really became invested in the characters! Loved it!
July 26, 2018
This was decent, but not nearly as good as some other Anne Rivers Siddons books I’ve read. As usual, the location plays a large part in the atmosphere of the book. Here we get 3 different faces of South Carolina — old money Charleston, the beach, and the low country — and each does its part. Unfortunately, I wish she’d spent as much time on her characters as she did on the setting.
Anny is the center of the story. She’s not old money Charleston, but the leader of a non-profit who searches out the help of a doctor one day for one of her clients and meets Lewis, a successful surgeon 15 years her senior. He pulls her into his group of lifelong friends, the Scrubs, and soon they are all one happy family. Or so it seems.
The story crosses multiple decades and follows the Scrubs through the good times and bad — hurricanes, fire, death. It had the potential to be really emotional, but I felt like I never got a chance to know the characters before I was thrown into their lives and machinations. Lewis and Anny’s courtship is nearly non-existent. They meet and then bam! They’re married and life goes on. We’re told how deeply they love each other, but we’re robbed of the chance to see that love grow. And then there are the friends. Only a couple of them are really fleshed out characters, and not necessarily for the better. I even kept forgetting about one of the couples… whenever they’d be mentioned I’d think “Oh yeah, those guys”.
Unfortunately, practically all of the inciting events in this story are tragic. After a while, it felt like “geez, who else is going to die?” I appreciated the twist at the end, but I think it could have used a little more intrigue sprinkled throughout the story to keep us interested.
Anny is the center of the story. She’s not old money Charleston, but the leader of a non-profit who searches out the help of a doctor one day for one of her clients and meets Lewis, a successful surgeon 15 years her senior. He pulls her into his group of lifelong friends, the Scrubs, and soon they are all one happy family. Or so it seems.
The story crosses multiple decades and follows the Scrubs through the good times and bad — hurricanes, fire, death. It had the potential to be really emotional, but I felt like I never got a chance to know the characters before I was thrown into their lives and machinations. Lewis and Anny’s courtship is nearly non-existent. They meet and then bam! They’re married and life goes on. We’re told how deeply they love each other, but we’re robbed of the chance to see that love grow. And then there are the friends. Only a couple of them are really fleshed out characters, and not necessarily for the better. I even kept forgetting about one of the couples… whenever they’d be mentioned I’d think “Oh yeah, those guys”.
Unfortunately, practically all of the inciting events in this story are tragic. After a while, it felt like “geez, who else is going to die?” I appreciated the twist at the end, but I think it could have used a little more intrigue sprinkled throughout the story to keep us interested.
July 15, 2014
I loved it. The prose is simply flawless as it soothes and sparkles and shines and just makes me feel good. I enjoyed the story, was astonished at the surprise ending, and feel as if I've OD'd on shellfish. The menus sound fattening, but the people never gain weight. And I really do hope that only imagined characters drink so much!
But still, its great. If you don't want to read it, at least read about Gladys' epiphany (page 233 in my copy) and the arrival of Gaynelle on the scene (p. 284). Wonderful writing. I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
But still, its great. If you don't want to read it, at least read about Gladys' epiphany (page 233 in my copy) and the arrival of Gaynelle on the scene (p. 284). Wonderful writing. I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
June 17, 2026
There is no one who writes South Carolina beach life like Anne Rivers Siddons, in my opinion, and this re-read for me has proven to have the perfect summer vibes. So many of Siddons' atmospheric phrases are downright poetic.
I'm recognizing all the similarities between this book and my fave Siddons book COLONY as I'm going along--she definitely had a certain type of heroine she preferred to employ for her first person POV novels, and I enjoy tagging along with that type. Often, it's an outsider who's different from the group at large, yet she manages to assimilate completely/quietly take over the group by the end.
And the deep, moving threads of true love and complicated marriages run throughout, which she explores in some depth. I can picture the settings so vividly in my mind as I immerse myself in this world, and the characters' aging process is also tenderly well-described as the years pass in the book (and I understand it better now as I'm aging myself).
Siddons books are rich reads, and they really stick with you. I'm so glad I dove into this one this summer.
I'm recognizing all the similarities between this book and my fave Siddons book COLONY as I'm going along--she definitely had a certain type of heroine she preferred to employ for her first person POV novels, and I enjoy tagging along with that type. Often, it's an outsider who's different from the group at large, yet she manages to assimilate completely/quietly take over the group by the end.
And the deep, moving threads of true love and complicated marriages run throughout, which she explores in some depth. I can picture the settings so vividly in my mind as I immerse myself in this world, and the characters' aging process is also tenderly well-described as the years pass in the book (and I understand it better now as I'm aging myself).
Siddons books are rich reads, and they really stick with you. I'm so glad I dove into this one this summer.
November 26, 2009
I'm not sure the review I wrote went through, so I thought I would try again. This book seemed to go on and on with little real purpose. It is a story about a group of people, several of whom have known each other since childhood, who own a beach house together on Sullivan Island near Charleston, SC. The setting was interesting to me because we visited that area earlier this year.
The group vows that they will love and care for each other forever. Through the various tragedies and stages of their relationship, this vows holds firm. I felt little investment in the characters, and even though the ending was surprising, I was glad to come to the last page. Perhaps if I had read this more quickly (like on the beach or other vacation spot), I would have enjoyed it more.
The group vows that they will love and care for each other forever. Through the various tragedies and stages of their relationship, this vows holds firm. I felt little investment in the characters, and even though the ending was surprising, I was glad to come to the last page. Perhaps if I had read this more quickly (like on the beach or other vacation spot), I would have enjoyed it more.
January 19, 2019
Aside from the compelling descriptions of the "Low Country," and I had to look that up to find out exactly what geographical area it encompasses, this book was fairly bland. The setting, with its beautiful islands, beach cottages, and stately homes, overpowered the characters, who were all rather thinly drawn. The plot itself meandered along for a very long time for an unexpected and somewhat unbelievable revelation at the end. Other reviewers say that this isn't her best book, and I might be tempted to try another one to see if that's true.
November 7, 2008
While reading this book I found myself longing for a group of friends that is displayed here. I was drawn into the relationships between them and the seemingly sustaining force between them. I enjoyed the dynamics between characters and the descriptions of the settings. The ending was surprising (which does not happen too often in books for me), and I enjoyed that. This book also displayes the goods and bads of deep relationships and the way the relationships develop and unfold.
March 15, 2021
The book was just ok. I was disappointed by the ending.
October 23, 2012
Anny Butler has always been a caretaker, a nurturer, first for her own brothers and sisters, and then as the director of an agency devoted to the welfare of children. What she has never had is a family of her own to care for. That all changes when she meets and marries Lewis Aiken, an exuberant surgeon fifteen years Anny's senior.
When they marry, Anny finds her family - not a traditional one, but a group of childhood friends from Charleston who are inseparable; who are one another's surrogate family. They call themselves The Scrubs, and they all, in some way, are connected by the cord of family. Instantly upon meeting them at the old beach house on Sullivan's Island, which they co-own, Anny knows that she has ultimately found home and family. They vow that, when the time comes, they will find a place by the sea where they can live together.
Bad things begin to happen - a hurricane, a fire, deaths - but still the remaining Scrubs cling together. They are watched over and bolstered by Camilla Curry, the heart and core of the group, always the healer. For the first time in her life, Anny allows Camilla to enfold her and to care for her with a kind of love and support that Anny has never experienced.
I loved this book; it was one of those books that you can get lost in the storytelling of it. I'm really beginning to enjoy Anne Rivers Siddons as an author and look forward avidly to the next book of hers that I read. I have added three more books by Anne Rivers Siddons on to my Wish List and give Islands by Anne Rivers Siddons an A+!
When they marry, Anny finds her family - not a traditional one, but a group of childhood friends from Charleston who are inseparable; who are one another's surrogate family. They call themselves The Scrubs, and they all, in some way, are connected by the cord of family. Instantly upon meeting them at the old beach house on Sullivan's Island, which they co-own, Anny knows that she has ultimately found home and family. They vow that, when the time comes, they will find a place by the sea where they can live together.
Bad things begin to happen - a hurricane, a fire, deaths - but still the remaining Scrubs cling together. They are watched over and bolstered by Camilla Curry, the heart and core of the group, always the healer. For the first time in her life, Anny allows Camilla to enfold her and to care for her with a kind of love and support that Anny has never experienced.
I loved this book; it was one of those books that you can get lost in the storytelling of it. I'm really beginning to enjoy Anne Rivers Siddons as an author and look forward avidly to the next book of hers that I read. I have added three more books by Anne Rivers Siddons on to my Wish List and give Islands by Anne Rivers Siddons an A+!
September 25, 2019
Over a number of years, I had read all of Anne Rivers Siddons' books written before this one, but I didn't realize that the last one had been before I started Goodreads because she's always on my to-read list. And it was with dismay that I learned of her death just as I started this book. It's not her best, but it was enjoyable.
I'm not sure I've ever been able to adequately articulate the overall feeling, atmosphere, aura induced by Anne Rivers Siddons' writing, but a close, seemingly familiar, usually coastal, southernness always pervades. Anny Butler morphed her difficult childhood, in which she had had to substitute for her non-functional mother, into a rewarding life where she happily and competently ran an agency committed to children's welfare. She took one of the abandoned children to Dr. Lewis Aiken, an inveterate and devoted surgeon fifteen years her senior, and an unbidden relationship began. Aiken's close childhood group of old Charlestonians were not the snobby elitists that Anny envisioned. As they welcomed her into the fold she developed an abiding love for the sea, the nature, and the islands just outside of town. Throughout my reading, the majority of Islands seemed to be a study in a sort of positive, yet almost otherworldly, melancholy -- until it wasn't, with its very extant twist.
I'm not sure I've ever been able to adequately articulate the overall feeling, atmosphere, aura induced by Anne Rivers Siddons' writing, but a close, seemingly familiar, usually coastal, southernness always pervades. Anny Butler morphed her difficult childhood, in which she had had to substitute for her non-functional mother, into a rewarding life where she happily and competently ran an agency committed to children's welfare. She took one of the abandoned children to Dr. Lewis Aiken, an inveterate and devoted surgeon fifteen years her senior, and an unbidden relationship began. Aiken's close childhood group of old Charlestonians were not the snobby elitists that Anny envisioned. As they welcomed her into the fold she developed an abiding love for the sea, the nature, and the islands just outside of town. Throughout my reading, the majority of Islands seemed to be a study in a sort of positive, yet almost otherworldly, melancholy -- until it wasn't, with its very extant twist.
July 7, 2020
Islands is a favorite piece of light fiction. Siddons captures the atmosphere and even the smallest details of Charleston and the low country with prose that’s often close to poetry. Islands has mature (mostly Charlestonian) characters beginning in their mid-thirties to fifties and aging approximately twenty years. I lived in Savannah for eleven years and appreciate the accuracy of her descriptions of the people, the full spectrum of the Gullah and other area cultures, even details of iconic furnishings, and the flora and fauna of the area. The story is told with sensitivity, humor and numerous allusions to music, literature, and contemporary mass and high culture. In this story centering on the beauties of a Southern aristocracy, she ultimately favors an ideal of American democracy. Though the main character, Anny, comes from humble beginnings, her kindness and lack of pretension ingratiate her to a group of old money peers known as the ‘Scrubs’ (three or four of them are part of the local medical community). Read only once, but seems like one people might read again.
July 23, 2010
Islands is the second title I have read by ARS (Sweetwater Creek being the first). I did not enjoy this storyline and was disappointed with the ending. Islands follows the lives of the "Scrubs", 4 Charleston couples who are close friends and in my opinion - way too needy of each other. They all own antiqudated old homes, as well as other assorted houses, but find they are most happy at the beach house. The story follows them through the times that they spend together at the beach house and the Lowcountry - and a few tragedies. I found these characters uninteresting and whiney. The only character I really did enjoy is Gaynelle, a strong young woman who is hired to care for one of the scrubs who is ill. I really don't know if I will read any more ARS novels. Just not my thing.
May 6, 2014
This book was ridiculously well written! Wow! A bunch of friends, who call themselves the Scrubs due to all being in the medical field, make a promise to be there for each forever. They stay at the beach house each weekend and life happens all around them. Hurricanes, fires, deaths. Fabulously story of friendship and their chosen "family". But OMG, it has the surprise ending you will NOT see coming. Loved it, mixed feelings about the end but it reminded me of my friends and I since we always say we will retire and move together!! Definitely a must read!!
January 1, 2019
Had this on my TBR list for years after reading an excerpt from Barbara Bush's memoir where she wrote to a book friend about this being one of her favorite Siddons novels. I grabbed it for a beach read and, ironically, began reading it the day Barbara died...RIP. I enjoy the few Siddons I've read, a strong sense of place and southern ambiance. Close-knit friendships that baffle many and are the envy of others are a central theme. Perfect for the reason I chose to pick it up, as an escape beach book.
July 13, 2016
This is a book that is meant to be re-read, several times. It is a quiet, yet full read with unexpected turns. It is written with a love of land and architecture and explores themes of love, loss, friendship, masks, trust, aging... I think when I read it again, I will see new lessons and understand old ones more thoroughly. A gem!
October 9, 2008
If it wasn't for the fact that my mom recommended this one (and we usually know each other's taste pretty well), I would've quit by chapter 2. I found it soooo boring and cliche. It was the geriatric sisterhood of the traveling pants, coed.
September 4, 2017
Few books have made me cry, but this one made me cry three or four times. I love her writing. As corny as it sounds, the characters become your friends. And then she likes to kill them abruptly. And I did not see that ending coming.
February 12, 2020
Very mixed about this book. I both loved and hated it. The writing style is one that you don't find much anymore, in depth of feelings and people along the continuum of their lives. On the other hand, the main character was a nobody who became a doctor's wife in Charleston society and once she was in and accepted by his little group of friends called "the scrubs" she became one of them and their snobbish ways. After they they all move to the river on John's island, her snobbishness becomes more apparent but she and one of the other doctors become more tolerant of regular red neck people. Her husband Lewis was the most "down to earth" one of them all --and he was true Charleston blueblood who didn't care about all the hoopla. The friend Camilla is a snobbish snake from day one. Truly they all are snobs. If you have interest in how the other half thinks and lives with 3 houses spattered around Charleston, SC, here's your big chance. Despite holding community driven careers-helping others, they are all extremely self centered and tunnel visioned. Despite the denial at the beginning of the book, I strongly suspect she based these characters loosely on people she knew either in Atlanta or Charleston where she lived.
November 18, 2020
Anne Rivers Siddons is a wonderful storyteller, and with Islands, she's proven it once again. I am tempted to say that the content of Islands would not suit all readers. To the point, I think this tale of an elderly, privileged group of long-time friends, calling themselves the scrubs, is best digested if the reader herself/himself has been on this earth for more than half a century (smile) - well there are always exceptions, of course. Don't get me wrong, this bunch of wealthy friends, comprised of doctors and business owners, wasn't that unlikeable - well not all of them. They were privileged, for sure, and half of them sure acted entitled, but not Lewis, nor Henri or Charlie. And Anny was an outsider to begin with, but easily integrated into the group.
The best aspect of this story is without a single doubt the city of Charleston and it's surroundings - those islands, as the title aptly mentions. The unique scenery, the architecture, the climate, the fauna and flora, the rhythm of life; it's all of those characteristics of that region the author is able to depict with authenticity that is truly felt.
The best aspect of this story is without a single doubt the city of Charleston and it's surroundings - those islands, as the title aptly mentions. The unique scenery, the architecture, the climate, the fauna and flora, the rhythm of life; it's all of those characteristics of that region the author is able to depict with authenticity that is truly felt.
October 29, 2024
I recently realized I had somehow missed the book Islands by Anne Rivers Siddons. I thought I had read all her books and was so glad for this discovery. This is a wonderful book about close friendships and life changes. “The Scrubs”are a group of Charleston, South Carolina childhood friends and their spouses. They co-own a beach house on Sullivan’s Island and spend their free time together escaping busy downtown Charleston. I immediately felt like part of their group as each of them jumped right off the page. The descriptions were so vivid and brought me back to my Summer to trip to Charleston this past August. I loved every second of this book and felt like I lost close friends when the book ended. Speaking of the end, it will surprise you. ENJOY!!!!!
May 26, 2019
I know I shouldn't judge before I finish a story.. but as a book on CD - Torture! I have heard 2 discs of excessively descriptive writing, limited plot, and the reader of this version has added in a accented drawl that is a thick as Karo syrup and SO very annoying AND so much picturesque description. And did a mention that nothing much happens. ( Hurricane Hugo, oh we got married, then someone dies.. then.. )
DNF ( Did not finish! )
DNF ( Did not finish! )
August 29, 2021
I am speechless! What this woman can do with words is amazing! Excellent read about Charleston, love, friendship, the sea, and of course islands.
June 3, 2022
I picked this up because Pat Conroy (one of my all-time favorite authors) gushed about this author and how much he loved her and her books. I think his feelings for her books were influenced by the fact that she was a good friend of his.
This wasn’t awful, but there wasn’t much story. There was a lot of potential, but even the surprising twist at the end was unsatisfying. I was expecting a lot more. Not sure that I’ll pick up another by her.
This wasn’t awful, but there wasn’t much story. There was a lot of potential, but even the surprising twist at the end was unsatisfying. I was expecting a lot more. Not sure that I’ll pick up another by her.
June 4, 2020
This is not a book I would have normally picked up. My younger son chose this book for me as a Christmas gift because I spent four years in Charleston (Navy "brat") from 1976 - 1980. We've been back many times for family reunions on the beaches, explored downtown for many decades, used to go sailing on the waters around Charleston when I was a young girl, dug through the muck for shark's teeth, etc. Charleston is rich in history - both good and bad - one of America's oldest cities.
This book was an interesting mixture of genre - little bit of romance, some drama, inside peek into the "blue blood" society, some insightful looks inside medicine in more remote areas of the world and also underserved communities here in the USA.
The lives of the privileged got a bit wearing at times, but believe the primary focus of the book was actually Charleston and the surrounding areas itself (which is why my son chose this book for me). Very detailed about the land... The friendships were a little weak on character development, but I do have to say I enjoyed the twists in the story, and there was enough foreshadowing in the story to see the ending coming (which I stayed up late into the night to finish once I hit the chapter 90% through the book that was the same as the prologue).
This book was an interesting mixture of genre - little bit of romance, some drama, inside peek into the "blue blood" society, some insightful looks inside medicine in more remote areas of the world and also underserved communities here in the USA.
The lives of the privileged got a bit wearing at times, but believe the primary focus of the book was actually Charleston and the surrounding areas itself (which is why my son chose this book for me). Very detailed about the land... The friendships were a little weak on character development, but I do have to say I enjoyed the twists in the story, and there was enough foreshadowing in the story to see the ending coming (which I stayed up late into the night to finish once I hit the chapter 90% through the book that was the same as the prologue).
August 17, 2019
I have read lots of Siddons's books and was tired of them. Although she's a good writier, it seemed to be the same plot, same setting, just different (but not very) characters. I picked up Islands on a recent cruise because I couldn't read my Kindle in the sun. I liked this one, but it did have the obligatory hurricane, with a few fires thrown in. Since I'm "of a certain age," I appreciate books about other senior adults. This one has a bit of a mystery to it. The book looks at a group of aging Charlestown natives from the in-crowd, who years ago created their own even-more-in-crowd: the Scrubs. It begins with them in their 50's and 60's and progresses to the present, with forays into their youth to fill in the back story. There were characters here who I had a hard time believing, but the first person narrator was well-drawn.
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