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Last Light over Carolina
Last Light Over Carolina
Every woman in the sultry South Carolina low country knows the unspoken fear that clutches the heart every time her man sets out to sea. Now, that fear has become a terrible reality for Carolina Morrison. Her husband, shrimp boat captain Bud Morrison, is lost and alone somewhere in the vast Atlantic fishing grounds, with a storm gathering and last light falling. Over the course of one terrifying, illuminating day, Carolina looks back across thirty years of love and loss, joy and How she rejected a well-to-do upbringing to marry Bud and embrace his extraordinary lifestyle by the sea . . . how hard times and loneliness have driven them apart . . . and how, with one mistake, she may have shattered their once-unbreakable bond forever. While their the close-knit community rallies together to search for one of its own, Carolina knows their love must somehow call him home, across miles of rough water and unspeakable memories.
New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe explores a vanishing feature of the southern coastline, the mysterious yet time-honored shrimping culture, in a compelling tale of a strong woman struggling to prove that love is a light that never dies.
Every woman in the sultry South Carolina low country knows the unspoken fear that clutches the heart every time her man sets out to sea. Now, that fear has become a terrible reality for Carolina Morrison. Her husband, shrimp boat captain Bud Morrison, is lost and alone somewhere in the vast Atlantic fishing grounds, with a storm gathering and last light falling. Over the course of one terrifying, illuminating day, Carolina looks back across thirty years of love and loss, joy and How she rejected a well-to-do upbringing to marry Bud and embrace his extraordinary lifestyle by the sea . . . how hard times and loneliness have driven them apart . . . and how, with one mistake, she may have shattered their once-unbreakable bond forever. While their the close-knit community rallies together to search for one of its own, Carolina knows their love must somehow call him home, across miles of rough water and unspeakable memories.
New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe explores a vanishing feature of the southern coastline, the mysterious yet time-honored shrimping culture, in a compelling tale of a strong woman struggling to prove that love is a light that never dies.
400 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2009
389 people are currently reading
2972 people want to read
About the author
Mary Alice Monroe
71 books5,645 followersMary Alice Monroe is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 30 books, including her new novel, Where the Rivers Merge, the first book in a duology and her historical debut. The second book is titled The Rivers End. Release date has not been set yet.
Monroe has also published children’s books, which complement the environmental themes she is known for in her adult novels. Monroe’s middle grade series, written with Angela May, The Islanders, debuted #2 on the New York Times Best Sellers List in 2021. The second book in the series, Search for Treasure, debuted #3 on the New York Times Best Sellers List. And the third book in the series, Shipwrecked, is available everywhere books are sold.
Nearly eight million copies of her books have been published worldwide.
Mary Alice has earned numerous accolades and awards including induction into the South Carolina Academy of Authors’ Hall of Fame; South Carolina Center for the Book Award for Writing; the South Carolina Award for Literary Excellence; the SW Florida Author of Distinction Award; the RT Lifetime Achievement Award; the International Book Award for Green Fiction; the Henry Bergh Award for Children’s Fiction; and her novel A Lowcountry Christmas won the prestigious Southern Prize for Fiction.
Mary Alice is also the co-founder of the popular weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction.
The Beach House is a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, starring Andie McDowell. Several of her novels are optioned for film.
Mary Alice has championed the fragility of the earth’s wild habitat. The coastal southern landscape in particular is a strong and important focus of many of her novels. For her writing, Monroe immerses herself in academic research, works with wildlife experts, and does hands-on volunteering with animals. She then uses the knowledge and experiences to craft captivating stories that identify important parallels between nature and human nature. Sea turtles, bottlenose dolphins, monarch butterflies, shorebirds are among the species she has worked with and woven into her novels.
Mary Alice is also an active conservationist and serves on several boards including the South Carolina Aquarium board emeritus, the Pat Conroy Literary Center Honorary Board, and the Leatherback Trust, which she received the Leatherback Trust Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022. She is especially proud to be a state-certified volunteer with the Island Turtle Team for more than twenty years.
Mary Alice splits her time between her home on the South Carolina coast and her home in the North Carolina mountains. When she’s not writing a novel, she is with her family or busy working with wildlife somewhere in the world.
Monroe has also published children’s books, which complement the environmental themes she is known for in her adult novels. Monroe’s middle grade series, written with Angela May, The Islanders, debuted #2 on the New York Times Best Sellers List in 2021. The second book in the series, Search for Treasure, debuted #3 on the New York Times Best Sellers List. And the third book in the series, Shipwrecked, is available everywhere books are sold.
Nearly eight million copies of her books have been published worldwide.
Mary Alice has earned numerous accolades and awards including induction into the South Carolina Academy of Authors’ Hall of Fame; South Carolina Center for the Book Award for Writing; the South Carolina Award for Literary Excellence; the SW Florida Author of Distinction Award; the RT Lifetime Achievement Award; the International Book Award for Green Fiction; the Henry Bergh Award for Children’s Fiction; and her novel A Lowcountry Christmas won the prestigious Southern Prize for Fiction.
Mary Alice is also the co-founder of the popular weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction.
The Beach House is a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, starring Andie McDowell. Several of her novels are optioned for film.
Mary Alice has championed the fragility of the earth’s wild habitat. The coastal southern landscape in particular is a strong and important focus of many of her novels. For her writing, Monroe immerses herself in academic research, works with wildlife experts, and does hands-on volunteering with animals. She then uses the knowledge and experiences to craft captivating stories that identify important parallels between nature and human nature. Sea turtles, bottlenose dolphins, monarch butterflies, shorebirds are among the species she has worked with and woven into her novels.
Mary Alice is also an active conservationist and serves on several boards including the South Carolina Aquarium board emeritus, the Pat Conroy Literary Center Honorary Board, and the Leatherback Trust, which she received the Leatherback Trust Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022. She is especially proud to be a state-certified volunteer with the Island Turtle Team for more than twenty years.
Mary Alice splits her time between her home on the South Carolina coast and her home in the North Carolina mountains. When she’s not writing a novel, she is with her family or busy working with wildlife somewhere in the world.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 256 reviews
July 15, 2009
After reading the description I thought this book would be a lot like The Perfect Storm. I was wrong. It was a great story and a truly touching and emotional book.
While the story's main plot revolves around Bud and the perilous situation he is in there is so much more to this one. As Bud and Carolina go through their day they recall memories from their past. Not all of them are good, but they all show how life can take it's toll on a marriage. How just loving someone may not always be enough and how the heart works in mysterious ways.
The writing was great. Mary Alice Monroe did a great job capturing the dialect and portraying it in her writing. The two main characters are very well developed and the secondary characters aren't just two dimensional. The flashbacks were done perfectly and they didn't make the story feel choppy.
Even at almost 400 pages it didn't really take me that long to read. The story keeps you connected and wanting to know more. This one was really good, I'm adding her last one to my To Read list!
While the story's main plot revolves around Bud and the perilous situation he is in there is so much more to this one. As Bud and Carolina go through their day they recall memories from their past. Not all of them are good, but they all show how life can take it's toll on a marriage. How just loving someone may not always be enough and how the heart works in mysterious ways.
The writing was great. Mary Alice Monroe did a great job capturing the dialect and portraying it in her writing. The two main characters are very well developed and the secondary characters aren't just two dimensional. The flashbacks were done perfectly and they didn't make the story feel choppy.
Even at almost 400 pages it didn't really take me that long to read. The story keeps you connected and wanting to know more. This one was really good, I'm adding her last one to my To Read list!
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September 7, 2009Jackie says:
This new novel by the author of Time Is A River takes us to the coast of South Carolina and into the world of the shrimping industry, hit hard by the current economy and imports of foreign shrimp to American markets. It's the story of Bud and Carolina, whose decades of marriage is on shaky ground. It's also the story of a down on its luck town who, when emergency strikes, pulls together and takes care of its own while forgetting all the rivalries and resentments and worries that generally plague them. The story moves back and forth between the present and scenes from Bud and Carolina's past, giving depth and background to the characters to this well told story.
***Unchain Yourself! Please look for this great book at your local independent book store. There is a store finder at indiebound.org.***
This new novel by the author of Time Is A River takes us to the coast of South Carolina and into the world of the shrimping industry, hit hard by the current economy and imports of foreign shrimp to American markets. It's the story of Bud and Carolina, whose decades of marriage is on shaky ground. It's also the story of a down on its luck town who, when emergency strikes, pulls together and takes care of its own while forgetting all the rivalries and resentments and worries that generally plague them. The story moves back and forth between the present and scenes from Bud and Carolina's past, giving depth and background to the characters to this well told story.
***Unchain Yourself! Please look for this great book at your local independent book store. There is a store finder at indiebound.org.***
July 9, 2010
Fast, easy read. Interesting was the focus of lives of the two main people, perspectives were from each of them, reviewing current as well as past events in thier lives.
The book moved from current to past and was an interesting perspective of long married people and how lives come together, drift apart and sometimes, what it takes to "put it back together".
Low country, as usual is interesting and evokes sights, sounds and smells of the area. A good summer read!
The book moved from current to past and was an interesting perspective of long married people and how lives come together, drift apart and sometimes, what it takes to "put it back together".
Low country, as usual is interesting and evokes sights, sounds and smells of the area. A good summer read!
February 19, 2012
Well done, solid storytelling. The reader can feel the weight of history in each of the character's actions. I doubt the shrimping industry is as glamorous as Bud makes it out to be, but it is an honorable profession of hard working people, dedicated to feeding us pleasurable meals. It is nice to see a glimpse into the life and better appreciate the sacrifice made for us consumers.
July 14, 2009
Bud and Carolina Morrison have been married for well over 30 years. They reside in the small coastal town of McClellanville, South Carolina where Bud captains the Miss Carolina - his shrimping boat. Although being a shrimper is not the easiest of lives (long, hard-working days) - it is something that he would not give up for the world. Like any marriage - Bud and Carolina’s has not been an easy one they have definitely had their share of bumpy roads, but they have found a way to overcome these obstacles and have held strong to their lives together.
The story takes place in the course and scope of one day. Bud wakes up that morning well before dawn and heads out for the day’s catch. Once his ship is ready to sail out and after waiting for his deckhand, who is late, he decides to head out on his own - not an easy thing for one man to do (and definitely not for one well into his sixties now). Due to bad weather and an accident at sea Bud is missing causing Carolina’s nightmares to become a reality. Most of the day Carolina has had a dreadful feeling in her stomach... she feels as if something is wrong but just can’t pinpoint what it is.
While Bud is at sea and Carolina runs around doing her daily errands, we slip back and forth between flashbacks of their lives together. The realities of being a shrimper and a shrimper’s wife, how they first met, making a home, having a baby, the destruction of Hurricane Hugo, long separations (if the shrimp don’t come to you, you must go to where the shrimp is), and how the local shrimping market is being affected by foreign shrimp being used at much lower rates. Prepare to be taken on a roller coaster journey through the lives of two people as they come to realize how precious life really is and how important they really are to one another.
I really enjoy character driven novels like this. The flashbacks are told in a way where you get both sides of the story which give these characters a depth that you feel as if you know them and you can't help but fall in love with them (flaws and all). I love that you learn so much about shrimping... and I could even relate somewhat to Carolina’s feelings - since my grandfather was a fisherman (back in the day). I remember the nights that my grandmother stayed up waiting for him or the days that went by while she waited by the phone for that call from a dock somewhere just to let her know that he was okay. The writing is superb - you can almost feel the Southern twang while reading it. This was a beautiful and poignant story about life, love and hope that I honestly loved and highly recommend.
The story takes place in the course and scope of one day. Bud wakes up that morning well before dawn and heads out for the day’s catch. Once his ship is ready to sail out and after waiting for his deckhand, who is late, he decides to head out on his own - not an easy thing for one man to do (and definitely not for one well into his sixties now). Due to bad weather and an accident at sea Bud is missing causing Carolina’s nightmares to become a reality. Most of the day Carolina has had a dreadful feeling in her stomach... she feels as if something is wrong but just can’t pinpoint what it is.
While Bud is at sea and Carolina runs around doing her daily errands, we slip back and forth between flashbacks of their lives together. The realities of being a shrimper and a shrimper’s wife, how they first met, making a home, having a baby, the destruction of Hurricane Hugo, long separations (if the shrimp don’t come to you, you must go to where the shrimp is), and how the local shrimping market is being affected by foreign shrimp being used at much lower rates. Prepare to be taken on a roller coaster journey through the lives of two people as they come to realize how precious life really is and how important they really are to one another.
I really enjoy character driven novels like this. The flashbacks are told in a way where you get both sides of the story which give these characters a depth that you feel as if you know them and you can't help but fall in love with them (flaws and all). I love that you learn so much about shrimping... and I could even relate somewhat to Carolina’s feelings - since my grandfather was a fisherman (back in the day). I remember the nights that my grandmother stayed up waiting for him or the days that went by while she waited by the phone for that call from a dock somewhere just to let her know that he was okay. The writing is superb - you can almost feel the Southern twang while reading it. This was a beautiful and poignant story about life, love and hope that I honestly loved and highly recommend.
December 28, 2011
I really liked this book about the Morrison family and their tiny town, McClellan, South Carolina. Progress is coming to the town, things are changing. Not many years ago, their were many shrimp boats tied up to the dock, but now only the diehard, traditional families still shrimp.
The Morrisons, Bud and Carolina, their daughter, Lizzie and her son live together and struggle to make a living. Bud has his shrimp boat, their daughter works at a local diner and Carolina runs the house. Bud works hard to keep the family's heads above water but it seems the shrimp are not nearly as plentiful as in the past.
One day, when Bud's helper, Pee Dee is a no show, he takes the boat out by himself. As he starts the winch up, his hand slips in and he is caught and can not free himself. As he struggles to keep a tourniquit tight, the memories of days past flash by.
Can his family figure out where he is and can they come to his rescue in time?
The Morrisons, Bud and Carolina, their daughter, Lizzie and her son live together and struggle to make a living. Bud has his shrimp boat, their daughter works at a local diner and Carolina runs the house. Bud works hard to keep the family's heads above water but it seems the shrimp are not nearly as plentiful as in the past.
One day, when Bud's helper, Pee Dee is a no show, he takes the boat out by himself. As he starts the winch up, his hand slips in and he is caught and can not free himself. As he struggles to keep a tourniquit tight, the memories of days past flash by.
Can his family figure out where he is and can they come to his rescue in time?
August 4, 2009
I really, really loved this book. Maybe it was because I read it shortly after finishing "The Angel's Game", which I found to be difficult and tedious, but this quick and easy read appealed to me. I felt a close kinship with the 50-something main characters, and truly appreciated the perspective on what it takes to keep a marriage of over 30 years going strong. More than anything, I appreciated the thought that marriages can take some pretty hard knocks and still survive. Add to all of this a fascinating look into the modern-day shrimping business, and you have a great book. Highly recommend it for married folks, and for people interested in the heart of true low-country living in South Carolina.
May 26, 2017
An intriguing tale of the sea. Mary Alice Monroe is writing about a very tightly-woven group of shrimp fisherman from McClellanville, South Carolina. They've all grown up with each other, occasionally brawled with each other, and are a very clannish bunch of loners. This was released in 2009, so I'd imagine most of the research was done in 2008, when the Great Recession was just beginning to cripple the economy; Author Monroe has done a good job of showing the devastating effects of rising gasoline and the dumping of imported shrimp on the Carolinian shrimpers. Last Light over Carolina is told in a series of flashbacks when one of the captains is lost at sea and the community scrambles to find him, pulling together to help one of their own. Here's a sample of the dialogue: "Josh's eyes swam with emotion. "You know, there are some days I question why I am a shrimper. I've got to be crazy, right? Every day we face these dangers and the long hours and the tough conditions - and for what? The money is lousy; I worry if I can keep my boat afloat in these hard times. Then I get calls from guys like that." He indicated with a lift of his chin the radio and the conversations he'd just had. "Every man out there hides his secret fishing spot jealously, but every man out there would risk his life for me. I know it. And Bud is the best of them. He taught me what I know about shrimping. But he also taught me how to be a man. Not some jerk who can drink and screw, but a real man - a husband and a father."" This is another tense, involving novel from Author Mary Alice Monroe, and, as usual, you'll find yourself reading long into the night.
June 19, 2017
Most of "Last Light over Carolina" takes place during a single day - with multiple flashbacks. It's the story of a marriage - the good, the bad and the ugly. Carolina and Bud Morrison fell in love at first sight. It is now decades later and this is the day that will change everything. Bud is a shrimp boat owner/captain. On this fateful morning, he decides to take the boat out alone. His first mate hadn't shown up but Bud needed to make whatever money he could to literally keep afloat. Although an experienced shrimper, Bud has a terrible accident when his hand gets caught in the winch. He is trapped and alone and left with plenty of time to think about what went right and wrong in his life. Back on shore, Carolina is also flashing back on their relationship. I enjoyed this story of life in a fishing village. I have taken many vacations to the low country area of South Carolina. Next time I'm there as a tourist, I will have a different perspective on this region. And I will only eat local shrimp.
June 21, 2009
This new novel by the author of Time Is A River takes us to the coast of South Carolina and into the world of the shrimping industry, hit hard by the current economy and imports of foreign shrimp to American markets. It's the story of Bud and Carolina, whose decades of marriage is on shaky ground. It's also the story of a down on its luck town who, when emergency strikes, pulls together and takes care of its own while forgetting all the rivalries and resentments and worries that generally plague them. The story moves back and forth between the present and scenes from Bud and Carolina's past, giving depth and background to the characters to this well told story.
June 29, 2018
3 1/2 stars. Good book about an older couple in their fifties, with flashbacks remembering key points, both good and bad, in their married lives. They have overcome difficulties before. Now, with his life possibly on the line, will they be able to do so again?
June 7, 2016
This book is just another great book by Mary Alice Monroe.
January 28, 2016
Enjoyed reading author's novel regarding lowcountry. I highly recommend this one.
May 6, 2016
I just love her books!!
July 9, 2025
This book looks at the shrimping community and it's impact on families.
September 27, 2018
This is a nail biter! The shrimpers in the Carolina lowlands are having a hard time economically. With cheap import shrimp and rising costs of diesel to run the boats, it has become harder and harder to turn a profit. When Bud gets his hand caught in the winch on his boat, alone and in an isolated spot the shrimping community comes together to find him and save him.
January 17, 2025
Carolina Shrimpers…
If a reader is from the southern coast, these characters, this setting, and these conflicts resonate as constant as tidal pulls. To live a life of a shrimper/fisherman, to choose such a life, demands a passion or heritage that cannot be measured.
And such has been the life force of Bud, who has always known he could never abandon his boat, his career, his lifestyle. And while the life has pulled and tugged, ebbed and flowed, his marriage has felt unsteady, floundering as his wife awaits at docks uncertain and afraid.
Told in chapters alternating times throughout their marriage, from its beginning to the present, the story moves dramatically especially when Bud struggles with the consequences of taking what he thought would be a half day sail alone.
Reminders of wealth of these coastal communities, priceless.
If a reader is from the southern coast, these characters, this setting, and these conflicts resonate as constant as tidal pulls. To live a life of a shrimper/fisherman, to choose such a life, demands a passion or heritage that cannot be measured.
And such has been the life force of Bud, who has always known he could never abandon his boat, his career, his lifestyle. And while the life has pulled and tugged, ebbed and flowed, his marriage has felt unsteady, floundering as his wife awaits at docks uncertain and afraid.
Told in chapters alternating times throughout their marriage, from its beginning to the present, the story moves dramatically especially when Bud struggles with the consequences of taking what he thought would be a half day sail alone.
Reminders of wealth of these coastal communities, priceless.
March 8, 2019
Very good book. I wanted to finish it in one day to see what was going to happen.
August 8, 2010
Monday, July 20, 2009
Last Light Over Carolina by Mary Alice Monroe
"Last Light Over Carolina" by Mary Alice Monroe is a wonderful family saga. This family saga takes place in South Carolina in a coastal town named McClellan. Carolina is Bud's wife. Bud is a shrimper. Carolina and Bud love one another very much. To show it Bud named his second boat Carolina. I had the chance to meet the whole family: There is Lizzy, their daughter. Their son-in-law, Josh, and grandchild, Will. To make their world complete they have a set of friends. I also met the patriarch of the family, Oz.
While watching from the dock, I thought about how perfect there life must seem to those who didn't live with the couple behind closed doors. First of all, shrimping for a living is not romantic. It is very hard work. Hard work which does not always pay well or leave the mind centered and at peace by the time the man does get home. Bud is always in conflict with himself and where to get the time to give his family who desperately need and miss him.
I liked "Last Light Over Carolina" because it didn't glorify life on the water. So often I romanticize the life of people who do not live in the city and beat the rat race everyday. I also loved reading about Bud's passion for the ocean. No matter what he faced Bud loved shrimping, patching a net or just feeling the wet wind on his face. For six years, Carolina went out on the boat with him. This is the time when their love seemed the strongest.
I also loved the part of the story where friends remembered Hurricane Hugo. After a hurricane, I think of all the people who lived and died as heroes. In "Last Light Over Carolina," I discovered hurricanes, although death threatening, do not make every person brave.
"Last Light Over Carolina" by Mary Alice Monroe takes us back and forth in time. I always love flashbacks. If flashbacks are used, I figure the people have done a heap of living. This is true in "Last Light Over Carolina." I hated to leave these strong minded individuals. At the end of the book, I sighed. I flipped through the pages again hoping a new chapter had arrived by magic. There was no such luck.
Last Light Over Carolina by Mary Alice Monroe
"Last Light Over Carolina" by Mary Alice Monroe is a wonderful family saga. This family saga takes place in South Carolina in a coastal town named McClellan. Carolina is Bud's wife. Bud is a shrimper. Carolina and Bud love one another very much. To show it Bud named his second boat Carolina. I had the chance to meet the whole family: There is Lizzy, their daughter. Their son-in-law, Josh, and grandchild, Will. To make their world complete they have a set of friends. I also met the patriarch of the family, Oz.
While watching from the dock, I thought about how perfect there life must seem to those who didn't live with the couple behind closed doors. First of all, shrimping for a living is not romantic. It is very hard work. Hard work which does not always pay well or leave the mind centered and at peace by the time the man does get home. Bud is always in conflict with himself and where to get the time to give his family who desperately need and miss him.
I liked "Last Light Over Carolina" because it didn't glorify life on the water. So often I romanticize the life of people who do not live in the city and beat the rat race everyday. I also loved reading about Bud's passion for the ocean. No matter what he faced Bud loved shrimping, patching a net or just feeling the wet wind on his face. For six years, Carolina went out on the boat with him. This is the time when their love seemed the strongest.
I also loved the part of the story where friends remembered Hurricane Hugo. After a hurricane, I think of all the people who lived and died as heroes. In "Last Light Over Carolina," I discovered hurricanes, although death threatening, do not make every person brave.
"Last Light Over Carolina" by Mary Alice Monroe takes us back and forth in time. I always love flashbacks. If flashbacks are used, I figure the people have done a heap of living. This is true in "Last Light Over Carolina." I hated to leave these strong minded individuals. At the end of the book, I sighed. I flipped through the pages again hoping a new chapter had arrived by magic. There was no such luck.
July 18, 2024
It seems hard to find a book that is not divided into present and past. This one would have benefited being told from past to present. Many of the flashbacks were descriptions of events, nothing to take the story forward.
Publisher’s blurb was unfortunately too revealing, one was waiting and waiting to see what his trouble at sea would be and how it would end. Despite knowing that the end would be quite predictable.
Too much about shrimps and catching them, too much repetitive emphasis on “this has been our life, is our heritage”. Just little bits in the flashbacks of the lives of the protagonists and especially of the secondary characters - they remained like props in a theatre. Carolina was working here, then there, her friend got married, next moment she was divorced, grandfather was suddenly married twice and had some mistresses, too. To mention a few. Good old chronological story from past to present would have been less “spotty”.
Publisher’s blurb was unfortunately too revealing, one was waiting and waiting to see what his trouble at sea would be and how it would end. Despite knowing that the end would be quite predictable.
Too much about shrimps and catching them, too much repetitive emphasis on “this has been our life, is our heritage”. Just little bits in the flashbacks of the lives of the protagonists and especially of the secondary characters - they remained like props in a theatre. Carolina was working here, then there, her friend got married, next moment she was divorced, grandfather was suddenly married twice and had some mistresses, too. To mention a few. Good old chronological story from past to present would have been less “spotty”.
April 1, 2019
I love Mary Alice Monroe and have read just about all of her books. This was not one of my favorites, but was still solid. A story about a marriage that has slowly lost its fire, resulting in two people who are more like roommates than spouses. One fateful day causes both of them to reflect on their marriage, the good times as well as what has led to the distance between them now. Ultimately a story about forgiveness. It was enjoyable to read and I flew through it. It just wasn't quite as good as her other books.
August 30, 2011
Wow! That was a great book and so different from others I have read. I learned a lot about "Shrimpers" and the shrimping culture. What a rough life, but I appreciate, praise & applaud them for all their hard work that produces such a delicious delicacy for the rest of us.
In addition to the shrimping lesson I learned...I loved the relationship story Mary Alice told in this novel about Bud and Carolina...amazing!
In addition to the shrimping lesson I learned...I loved the relationship story Mary Alice told in this novel about Bud and Carolina...amazing!
December 4, 2009
I couldn't get in to this book at all, and I came to really dislike the character of Bud. He seemed like such an ass in this book, I couldn't even feel sorry for him. It takes place in one day, with Bud and Carolina going back and forth between the present day and their memories from the past, it was all really boring.
October 23, 2009
I have loved all of this author's book. Her characters are so well developed and her skill in bringing the South to life lets you smell the saltwater. The book takes in one day of the life of Bud and Carolina a couple whose 30 year marriage is floundering. Flashbacks tell how they got to this sad state. A story of love and forgiveness.
April 9, 2011
This was my introduction to MAM and I say WOW! I love the Low Country of SC and want to move there. This story took me there with sound and smell and everything! I felt like I knew the characters as well as the place. Ms. Monroe is a master storyteller. I can't wait for more.
May 28, 2013
I always enjoy Monroes stories. This one takes place in a shrimping town in SC. It's about family, love, and mistakes. And forgiveness. And as always, I choked up at the end. She gets me every time!
August 31, 2022
Corny and predictable. Apparently she went to the Nicholas Sparks school of formula writing. I normally like reading books that take place where I live, but I predicted the entire book after the second chapter.
July 30, 2024
Initially I thought that I would enjoy this book but I actually found it rather boring. Didn’t find the characters very engaging & I didn’t feel invested in their story or their romance. The drama at the end felt rushed & predictable as was the ending. Disappointing.
August 20, 2009
A lovely story, like all of Mary Alice Monroe's books.
April 10, 2010
Found this title by following the "Read Books in Your Email" link on my library's website: http://www.noblenet.org/lynn. I enjoyed the excerpts so I checked the book out. It was an enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 256 reviews