The Oyster Singer

by Larry Savadove

On an abandoned stretch of marshland, lost lives wash up like driftwood. They float and intersect like debris in tidal currents, and sometimes, when conditions are just right, they connect. In this episodic novel, cats dive for fish; a boat-builder is holed up in an abandoned fishmeal factory making sneakboxes (though nobody wants his craftsmanship anymore); a party is held on an island that vanishes at high tide. The protagonist, not quite a hero, quotes Lincoln, tells stories, and can perform a call that brings oysters out of the bay. He thinks he's found his place in the world. As people respond with their own stories, a community of no-longer-lost souls forms -- except for those who want to take that place away. Evocative, poetic descriptions of the shore and its seasons slip between the stories as the two main characters, a man and a woman, drift around one another -- now pulled together, now pushed apart. The Oyster Singer is a novel about second chances and soul mates, love lost and found, adventurers, drifters, developers and dreamers, in a place called Mud City on a shore bound for change.

491 pages, Hardcover

First published August 2, 2004

Reviews

[Gwen Schaefer · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was good but it got boring towards the end

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange. Stories felt unfinished, difficult to get through because it just felt like a wandering tale with no plot line. Some chapters were interesting but then I’d be struggling for a hundred pages.

[susan chernin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming fantasy about life at the Jersey shore. Highly recommend

[C.E. Grundler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A peculiar, enchanting, odd book I thoroughly enjoyed.