Sea Glass

Publisher and industry reviews

Jacket review

Set in the Depression era of the 1930s in New Hampshire, Sea Glass tells the story of Honora Beecher; quiet and unassuming, married to Sexton and mostly content. Sexton is a successful salesman and spends time away from home selling typewriters, whilst Honora keeps house and whiles away hours searching for washed up sea glass on the beach. Honora's story alternates with those of her mother - told via the letters she sends her middle class neighbour Vivian, and lower-class workers from the local textile mill, which all culminate to paint the scene for the imminent mill strike over wage cuts. Shreve has already written nine novels, including The Pilot's Wife - the biggest-selling trade paperback in America in 1999. Her appeal is apparent from her elegant style and skilful writing.

UK Kirkus review

This powerful novel about society, human nature, love and deception is set in New Hampshire in 1929 and 1930. It is beautifully and sparely written and deals with a period of history often neglected by modern writers. Honora and Sexton have had six brief months of a marriage which, if not ideal, is loving and sometimes exciting. They scrape enough money together to buy their house by the sea, Sexton does well selling typewriters and Honora gathers the 'sea glass' that fascinates her. Into this idyll comes the Wall Street Crash and nothing is ever the same again. Skilfully woven through Honora's story are those of McDermott the mill worker and his efforts to make the trades union strong, and of Francis, out to work too young, supporting his mother and the family. There too is Vivian, a summer visitor to the shore who provides practical help. These characters form a gradually tightening nucleus as the Depression deepens, workers strike and food is scarce. The plot moves elegantly between times and characters. Present and past lives merge so that information is built up like a dossier. Gradually the significance of the sea glass is revealed as we begin to understand Honora's background. As we learn more it is clear that Sexton is not the man she thought he was and she can no longer close her eyes to reality. Tension builds as the novel draws to a close. Just as a new and more satisfying love comes to Honora the horror that has threatened materializes and the story ends on a note of brutal realism, mitigated only by a glimmer of hope. There will be a future for Honora, but not the one she has imagined. Only the sea glass has retained its original brightness. (Kirkus UK)