The End of the Point - Hardcover

Graver, Elizabeth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062184849 ISBN 13: 9780062184849

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2013

Synopsis

Longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction

Ashaunt Point, Massachusetts, has anchored life for generations of the Porter family, who summer along its remote, rocky shore. But in 1942, the U.S. Army arrives on the Point, bringing havoc and change. That summer, the two older Porter girls--teenagers Helen and Dossie--run wild while their only brother, Charlie, goes off to train for war. The children's Scottish nurse, Bea, falls in love. And youngest daughter Janie is entangled in an incident that cuts the season short.

An unforgettable portrait of one family's journey through the second half of the twentieth century, Elizabeth Graver's The End of the Point artfully probes the hairline fractures hidden beneath the surface of our lives and traces the fragile and enduring bonds that connect us.

About this title

Review:

"A pleasure, quiet and increasingly gripping. In images as simple and specific as that of Aimee's blind rabbit sniffing its salt lick, Graver endows the habits of coping with a profound dignity."--The New Yorker, on Unravelling

"A completely contemporary story about a young girl on the verge of adolescence . . . Remarkably fine-tuned, it maintains a consistent delicacy and precision."--New York Times Book Review, on The Honey Thief

"Tackling some of the thorniest mysteries of love, Elizabeth Graver has written a novel of moral gravity as well as emotional suspense."--Julia Glass, author of Three Junes, on Awake

""The End of the Point" is intimate and rich and compelling, a sprawling saga that evokes both the wildness and fragility of the New England coast."--Stewart O'Nan, author of "A World Away" and "Wish You Were Here"

"An excellent choice for book clubs."--Pamela Mann, "Library Journal"

"An excellent choice for book clubs."--"Library Journal"

Eloquent .Graver s engaging, expansive storytelling allows us to take up residence inside the minds of a host of different characters, watching as they create their own pictures of the world around them, as they invest certain places and people with mythic significance. --"New York Times Book Review""

With her fourth and most emotionally textured novel, Graver proves herself a master chronicler of the ever-spiraling human comedy. "The End of the Point" is a work of uncommon gracefulness, as much in its boundless empathy as in the luminosity of its prose. --"Boston Globe""

With a style and voice reminiscent of William Trevor and Graham Swift, Graver s powerfully evocative portrait of a family strained by events both large and small celebrates the indelible influence certain places can exert over the people who love them. --"Booklist" (starred review)"

In this globalized age, with everyone talking about migration, here comes Elizabeth Graver to remind us of just what place can mean. The attachment in this gorgeously written, enormously moving book transcends time and personality. It is deep, extraordinarily ordinary, and finally provocative. --Gish Jen, author of "World and Town""

From the Back Cover:

A place out of time, Ashaunt Point--a tiny finger of land jutting into Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts--has provided sanctuary and anchored life for generations of the Porter family, who summer along its remote, rocky shore. But in 1942, the U.S. Army arrives on the Point, bringing havoc and change. That summer, the two older Porter girls--teenagers Helen and Dossie--run wild. The children's Scottish nurse, Bea, falls in love. And youngest daughter Janie is entangled in an incident that cuts the season short and haunts the family for years to come.

As the decades pass, Helen and then her son Charlie return to the Point, seeking refuge from the chaos of rapidly changing times. But Ashaunt is not entirely removed from events unfolding beyond its borders. Neither Charlie nor his mother can escape the long shadow of history--Vietnam, the bitterly disputed real estate development of the Point, economic misfortune, illness, and tragedy.

An unforgettable portrait of one family's journey through the second half of the twentieth century, The End of the Point artfully probes the hairline fractures hidden beneath the surface of our lives and traces the fragile and enduring bonds that connect us. With subtlety and grace, Elizabeth Graver illuminates the powerful legacy of family and place, exploring what we are born into, what we pass down, preserve, cast off or willingly set free.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0062184849
• ISBN 13: 9780062184849
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 338