Fortune's Rocks

Anita Shreve

All good fiction works on many levels...the superficial story level as well the deep underlying truth the story expounds… using the story form to convey truths of the human condition.

My favorite fiction writer is Anita Shreve. Anita’s writings combine high caliber story telling with the universal human theme of deep unfulfilled longing. A majority of Shreve’s characters are seeking something that is just beyond their grasp...on the story form it is usually portrayed as a yearning for another human character but on a underlying level this yearning is seen as a deep spiritual longing...that is a shared human experience...for a union with the one beloved–our true self.

Fortune's Rocks is a love story between a 45 year old married doctor to a 15 year old girl. It takes place at the turn of the 19th Century on the sea coast of New Hampshire. The theme may sound seedy but it is quite the opposite–this book raises the bar for high quality romantic fiction. This is, in my opinion, Anita’s best work.

Review by Tony Kainauskas.