An engaging and interesting read. It was particularly instructive to spend time thinking about domestic violence and attitudes to it back in 1971. The tale is told by various characters from a small Maine fishing town and Maureen, a woman escaping an abusive relationship. It is gripping and chilling and full of a cold Maine winter and lobster fishing. ( )

It's not a new story -- an abusive relationship escalates until the victim flees, the aggressor finds her, and violence ensues.

Shreve has chosen to approach it via the stories of multiple people involved, including the writer whose cover story in a major magazine may have influenced the eventual verdict. The multiple-voice narration works well, but the magazine story (which is included toward the end of the narrative) feels very clumsy and poorly written, in marked contrast to Shreve's normal style.

And underlying the whole thing is a level of discomfort with the actions of the victim. The reader must keep reminding him/herself that the story, set in 1971, far predates the infamous "burning bed" incident of 1977 in which a long-abused woman killed her sleeping husband, and the 1978 Rideout case in Oregon, which led to legal recognition of marital rape and established it as a crime. Even given the era's lack of acknowledgement of the widespread nature of domestic abuse and the lack of legal/social support available for victims, it's difficult to understand many of the main character's actions. ( )

Despite the uncomfortable theme of this novel, it quickly pulls you in, and makes you just want to keep reading and reading, to find out how things happened. The climax of the story is hinted at from very early on, but the details, and the how, are slowly revealed as the book goes on. Being told from the perspectives of several characters gives an extra depth, and a reality, with different people always seeing the same thing slightly, or not so slightly, differently.
One of Anita Shreve's best. ( )

book about domestic abusive, written in 1991 and set in 1971, when this just wasn't discussed. You knew early that Maureen/Mary killed her husband, but the chapters were written to an author by the different townsfolk where she fled after a severe beating that almost killed her. Intriguing to put the article at the end, and makes you wonder how much media contributed to the woman being disbelieved and convicted. ( )

A novel of a tragic story of domestic abuse.