(Abacus, $27.99)
With Rescue, her 16th novel, Anita Shreve confronts some of life’s big questions.
What sort of woman would abandon her own child?
How can a marriage between two people who are deeply in love fall apart so quickly?
Should you spend a lifetime atoning for your mistakes as a young person?
Frayed family relations, betrayal and forgiveness, and the price of true love are at the fore of this fast-paced small-town drama.
Webster is a rookie paramedic called out to a horrific car crash that will change the course of his life forever.
Lying in the wreck is Sheila Arsenault, the driver of the car, and Peter is immediately intoxicated by her beauty.
Meanwhile, Sheila, strapped to a gurney with life-threatening injuries, is just intoxicated – an ominous sign for the pair’s future.
Sheila and Peter embark on a tempestuous and ill-fated love affair that unexpectedly produces a child, Rowan.
Nineteen years later, Sheila has long since fled the nest and Webster is raising their now teenaged daughter alone. What’s worse, Rowan is starting to show signs she’s inherited her mother’s worst traits – a fondness for the bottle, staying out late and pushing Webster away.
If this all sounds a little soap opera-esque, don’t worry. Anita’s deft touch as a writer ensures Rescue is a faithful portrayal of family life that may strike close to home for many readers.
Anita clearly has a knack for telling this kind of story. She has covered similar territory before in many of her bestsellers, including Body Surfing, A Wedding in December and Testimony, and the fact she is able to do so without dipping into cliché demonstrates just how good a writer she is.
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