Monday, November 29, 2010

Rescue by Anita Shreve

Rescue: A Novel
Publication Date: November 30, 2010
Pages: 291
Genre: General Fiction
My Rating:



Book Summary: Paramedic Pete Webster is worried sick about his daughter, Rowan, a high-school senior whom he has raised single-handedly ever since she was two. Rowan has adopted very untypical behavior, ignoring her studies and drinking heavily. It brings back bad memories of his ex-wife, Sheila. He pulled her from a car wreck while on the job and soon fell madly in love with her both for her beauty and her irreverent sense of humor. When she became pregnant, he married her though he was only 21. They were very happy until Sheila began drinking all day, every day. Now Pete is worried that their daughter believes she is doomed to repeat her mother’s mistakes; he decides to contact Sheila, whom he has not seen or heard from for 16 years. The prolific Shreve brings her customary care to this thoroughly absorbing, perfectly paced domestic drama. Alternating between the life-and-death scenarios Pete encounters on the job and the fraught family tension between father and daughter, Shreve pulls readers right into her story.

My Thoughts: This is an amazing story. Sitting down with this book, you get swept away into a world of first love. Peter Webster works rescue and often gets to a scene before the EMT's. Upon meeting Sheila after her accident, Peter is immediately drawn to her and why she was where she was at that time. He gets swept away by her and finds her after the rescue. They soon find themselves with a baby on the way and decide to start their lives together. Sheila has a problem with alcohol and around the time that Rowan is two, Sheila makes a big mistake and leaves Webster to raise Rowan on his own. We then go forward in the book to when Rowan is 17 and Webster is now an EMT. Sheila has not been in Rowan's wife in all this time, however something happens and Webster needs to ask Sheila for help.

Webster's feelings for Sheila are well known through out this book.  Sheila's feeling for me were not always known.  I had a hard time reading her. I could never figure out if she was genuine. In the end of the book, I felt her feelings were genuine. She is one of those characters that you just wish you could get in her head and know her. This is definitely Shreve at her best! This is a good book and you will want to add this one to your collection.




**I received a copy of this book from the publishers in return for my honest review of this book.**

4 comments:

Marce said...

Great review, I enjoyed Testimony andn promised that I will read more AnitaS next year, reviews are consistently good for her books.

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Anonymous said...

Pois e realmente um programa maravilhoso ver o desfile de 20 de setembro em Piratini. Em 2007 eu fui pela primeira vez assisti-lo e fiquei emocionada, e um desfile muito lindo feito com alma por cada um daqueles gauchos que la vivem. Vale a pena.

Tales of Whimsy said...

O it sounds fantastic. Great review.