Strange Fits Of Passion (Paperback, Reissue)

As in her acclaimed Eden Close (1989), Shreve here picks up the loose threads of long-ago murder to weave a gripping and articulate story that has much to say about love and spite and domestic tragedy. By her own account, Maureen English is fleeing from a brutally abusive husband when she takes her infant daughter, Caroline, and leaves their N.Y.C. apartment. The year is 1970, and Maureen's husband, Harrold, is a respected reporter for a prominent newsmagazine. She's certain no one would believe her story. After driving frantically up the coast, Maureen settles in St. Hilaire, a tiny fishing village in Maine, where she rents a cottage and attracts a fair amount of attention - including the attention of a married fisherman named Jack Strout. With Jack, Maureen finds a kind of happiness she's never known and she feels her life begin to turn around - until Harrold shows up. The murder that follows draws nationwide interest, and Helen Scofield, a young reporter at Harrold's magazine, seizes the opportunity to write her version of the events and make a name for herself. Now, nearly 19 years later, Helen Scofield meets with Maureen's daughter Caroline to clear the air and salve her own conscience. Shreve makes a pertinent point here about journalistic ethics and how news is swayed by the mores of the day, although her message might have been stronger if Scofield seemed more sympathetic - she's a real stiff. But the heart of the story is all Maureen's, and it carries us, with every beat, to its haunting - and inevitable - conclusion. Murder with a Message. In Shreve's hands it's both believable and unthinkable - and totally absorbing. (Kirkus Reviews)

A young and successful journalist working in New York, Maureen English appears to have the perfect life and family. But Maureen's husband, a highly respected fellow reporter, has in private a tendency towards alcohol and violent abuse. When the situation at home becomes intolerable, Maureen takes her baby daughter and flees. In a Maine fishing town she assumes a new identity and spends six weeks battling sub-zero temperatures, the intrusive glare of the townsfolk - and her fears of discovery.
Against the force of the wintry sea- the cawing of the gulls, the lobstermen hauling their catch, the press of waves against the rocks - Maureen settles into the rhythms of a new life. Two married men pursue her, and one captures her heart. But this calming respite ends suddenly, leaving in its wake a murder, a rape charge, a suicide and a helpless child.
Nearly nineteen years later, a cache of documents regarding Maureen English - abused, accused and imprisoned - are given to her daughter by the journalist who made her name reporting the case. The truth should lie within them, but the papers raise far more questions than they answer…
 

General

Imprint:	Abacus
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	February 2000
Authors:	Anita Shreve
Dimensions:	197 x 126 x 26mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - B-format
Pages:	372
Edition:	Reissue
ISBN-13:	978-0-349-10586-4
Categories:	Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Crime & mystery > General
LSN:	0-349-10586-3
Barcode:	9780349105864

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