The Opposite Shore

by Maryanne Stahl

Book Overview

Which would be worse: losing your husband or your only sister? Rose, a forty-something wife and mother, has never asked herself this question. But one Saturday afternoon, she comes upon her husband, William, and her sister, Anna, locked in a fiery kiss. And the answer to this question rings in her ears: worse still would be to lose one to the other. Devastated by the betrayal, Rose moves with her teenage daughter to Shelter Island for the summer...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451208668
• ISBN13: 9780451208668
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: New American Library
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Enchanting and Wise

"The Opposite Shore" begins aboard a sailboat and although the sailing is by no means smooth from that moment on, you immediately know you're in the hands of a skipper who will take you on a memorable ride through deep waters. Inspired by Shakespeare's most mature play, The Tempest, this novel is "character-driven" in the very best sense of the word. We come to know four people intimately--the somewhat ethereal painter Rose, her husband William with longtime passions of his own, their teenage daughter Miranda, and Rose's earthy, but wounded sister Anna--and in the course of the novel each slowly, sometimes painfully, discovers what she or he truly wants and the real costs of pursuing that desire. Like the beautiful antique sailboat that features so prominently in the story, this novel is impeccably crafted. Every elegant sentence, each emotional nuance reveals the author's skill as a writer and her deep insight into the complexities of the human heart. Every reader will find something to relate to in the dilemmas of Stahl's cast of flawed, but sympathetic characters. This is a deeply satisfying journey for the intellect and the spirit. Highly recommended!

Excellent read -- engrossing and vibrant

Out for a sail aboard the family boat, the Ariel, on Memorial Day, one family's life is about to take a disastrous turn. Rose, an aspiring painter, and William are the proud and happy parents of sixteen year old Miranda. Anna is Rose's sister and best friend, a pal to Miranda, an avid sailor herself, and close to William. They seem content. However, when Rose goes home early, leaving William and Anna to close up the boat for the evening, she gets life-altering news. A painting of hers has been accepted in an upcoming gallery showing - her first big break. Flushed with excitement, she races back to the boat to share her exciting news. There, she finds her husband and her sister kissing. Immediately, everyone's world explodes. Betrayed and angry, Rose throws William out, cuts Anna from her life, and moves with her daughter for the rest of the summer to Shelter Island. Stahl's writing is evocative and vivid. She brings Shelter Island to sparkling life while delving deeply into all four of these richly complex characters. This could be simple, it could devolve into melodrama. But instead Stahl mines this material in an honest and realistic way. Everyone has their flaws, and as they each struggle with their decisions and actions, the summer unwinds with rising tension and uncertainty. These relationships and people are so well rendered, along with the setting, that the reader is sucked into their world and understands, and often sympathizes, with their current situation. Stahl apparently got the spark of inspiration for this book from Shakespeare's The Tempest. But this isn't a re-write. And though the jumping point for the plot is a betrayal, these characters sing with life, hopes, and frustrations. They are unique voices, though wholly understandable. And Stahl illuminates this world, unafraid to peek into the darker corners, all the way through to the satisfying conclusion.

A Beautiful, Tough Look at Love Gone Astray

In her second novel, "The Opposite Shore," Maryanne Stahl sets up a truly calamitous scenario: Rose discovers her husband and her sister in a romantic embrace. Thrown into the mix is Rose's teenage daughter who falls in love for the first time. Though such a set up could easily lead to soap opera cliche, Stahl's great skill never allows this to happen. Her characters are real and their reactions authentic. Stahl also has a great gift for description particularly of Shelter Island where much of the novel takes place. Indeed, at times I felt as though I were watching a movie: the characters, their actions and surroundings all felt so true and without contrivance. This is a beautiful, powerful novel that raises as many questions about love and forgiveness as it answers.

A "romantic" novel that takes a cool look at romance

Maryanne Stahl's new novel, The Opposite Shore, begins aboard the Ariel, a sailing boat, on Memorial Day, on the first family sail of the summer. Rose and William, their sixteen year old daughter Miranda, and Rose's sister, Anna, have spent every summer sailing the Ariel since William inherited the boat from his father. Rose spends her time aboard the boat thinking of painting. Her husband and sister are passionate sailors; Rose sees sailing as one of the unspoken accommodations, small sacrifices, that one makes in adjusting to a partner. In the first two chapters, Stahl deftly presents a "pretty good" marriage, decent people who love each other, who have arrived at a series of unspoken compromises. They respect each others work: Rose is a painter, William is a university lecturer. They are both committed to their daughter and her welfare. They both realise they have a satisfactory life, a satisfactory marriage, and that to expect more is part of the romanticism of youth. Rose, like her sister, has settled for what is available. She has satisfactory work and the companionship of her sister and her sister's family. Only Miranda, a selfish and self-centered sixteen year old, still expects a "brave new world" with wonders in it. This Memorial Day, things change. Rose discovers her husband and sister exchanging their first kiss. Angry and hurt, Rose insists her husband leave the family home and refuses to speak to her sister. This novel, like Stahl's first novel, examines the complexities of family life. She looks at the relationship of a parent and child, of sisters, as well as that of husband and wife. The kiss, and its discovery, cannot be isolated from all that has preceded it.When her lawyer offers to lend Rose his island cottage, she takes her unwilling daughter and goes to the island. Rose settles in, paints, and tries to deal with the practical and emotional debris left by her feelings of betrayal. But Rose is not simply an innocent party in a romantic triangle. There are no `bad guys' in the novel. There are three adults, likeable, decent and responsible, bewildered by something they thought would never happen. The perspective of William and Anna are as important to the story as that of Rose. They attempt to balance their needs as individuals with their obligations to each other. The novel ends on the Island, during Labour Day weekend, when the characters come together once again in a satisfying ending.The Opposite Shore is more than a mid-life crisis novel, although it describes very well the somewhat flat feeling typical of the forties decade! It's a highly moral novel that avoids presenting moral choices in black and white. It's a novel that emphasizes family obligations without ignoring their cost to the individual while doing the opposite - showing how an individual's needs have a cost to the family. It's simply told, but satisfying in its complexity of character and context. I strongly recommend it.

An Exploration of Relationships

Maryanne Stahl uses the betrayal of husband and sister to launch Rose on a journey of self discovery that causes her to confront past pain as well as her relationships with her teen-age daughter and her sister. Stahl's breathtaking descriptions of Shelter Island form an excellent background for Rose's budding artistic career. Forming an effective counterpoint to Rose's journey is the stalled life of William and Anna, the husband and sister who must come to terms with the painful betrayal they've inflicted on Rose. The Opposite Shore is an excellent choice for anyone who wants to explore the relationships between men and women, sisters, or mothers and daughters.