'Body Surfing' by Anita Shreve - Book Review

Anita Shreve’s previous novels, including The Weight of Water and A Wedding in December have established her as an immensely successful writer—Oprah’s Book Club endorsement of The Pilot’s Wife didn’t hurt either. Her latest release, Body Surfing, is even more appealing than her previous works. This moving story of a young woman who bonds with the family she works for will engross readers thanks to Shreve’s skilled writing.

Body Surfing opens with an evocative description of a beach house and a woman swimming, surfing her body on the ocean’s waves. Anita Shreve’s latest novel picks up on previous themes she has explored—-love, loss, marriage, the ocean—-but the story of Sydney, a young woman who is lost, and finds herself the tutor to a teenage daughter at her family’s summer beach house, is unique and textured in its own right.

Sydney has a traumatic past: two marriages--one that ended in divorce and one that left her a widow. The family she lives with has their own troubles, including a youngest daughter who is "slow" and threatens to disappoint her parents’ high hopes that she go to college. These characters are presented in whole, complex portraits, and there’s a strong undercurrent of hope in the way they continue to embrace love and new relationships, despite their flaws.

Body Surfing is a slow-moving story that spans three summers, and yet manages to move quickly and deliberately as well. The beach house functions as a character itself, playing a large role in the story and providing the novel with an intoxicating air of summer vacations and sandy feet. Body Surfing would make a great beach book, but it’s also emotionally satisfying enough to stand up to anytime of year.