gorgeous writing and a story that breaks one's heart
This was probably the most beautifully written, saddest love story I have ever read.
A gorgeous story told in a loving and beautiful way through T, Greenwood's sensitive and lovely prose, This is a true must read for all those who enjoy and treasure a story of love, longing, and heartbreak.
I am heartbroken but inspired by Billie and Eva's devotion for each other, their overwhelming passion and their willingness to fight, against all odds, for their love.
. .
Can Love conquer all Not always, but what a privilege to experience such a deep connection with another person's soul in our lifetimes.
Thank you Elyse and by extension thank you Lisi for recommending this wonderful book, And of course thank you sitelinkT, Greenwood for having the empathy and sensibility to write this story,
Regardless of the sexual orientation of the characters, this is one of the most moving, intense, beautiful love stories I've ever read.
In this case the protagonists just happened to involved two women, If you have not yet read any of sitelinkT, Greenwood's books . you must!!
Our little on line book group highlighted her this year as a Focus on One Author amp I think allof her books that we read were big hits amp well discussed.
Her writing is beautiful, the imagery is at times musical amp at other times too painful.
Even in the darkest amp some of the most painful parts of her books, the wording is lovely, respectful amp real.
This particular story was especially heartbreaking, a true love story but not where one would expect it amp in the early's no less.
I am still catching my breath amp wiping away my tears, .
We are looking forward to her/release! Amazing hidden treasure
This book was recommended to me by a good friend who knows what I like to read.
She was truly spot on with this lovely book, I dare say that it reminds me a little of "Brokeback Mountain" whereas it is a forbidden and tragic love story, but this time between two women in the early sixties.
A time where a love like theirs was forbidden, When women were merely fixtures, wives and mothers, only there to serve their husbands and do as they were told.
Beyond this being a beautiful love story, the author's description of the turning seasons through the years, and her parody of water to her life is stunning.
In, Billie Valentine is a young housewife living in a sleepy Massachusetts suburb, treading water in a dull marriage and caring for two adopted daughters.
Summers spent with the girls at their lakeside camp in Vermont are her one escapefrom her husband's demands, from days consumed by household drudgery, and from the nagging suspicion that life was supposed to hold something different.
Then a new family moves in across the street, Ted and Eva Wilson have three children and a fourth on the way, and their arrival reignites longburied feelings in Billie.
The affair that follows offers a solace Billie has never known, until her secret is revealed and both families are wrenched apart in the tragic aftermath.
Fifty years later, Ted and Eva's son, Johnny, contacts an elderly but still spry Billie, entreating her to return east to meet with him.
Once there, Billie finally learns the surprising truth about what was lost, and what still remains, of those joyful, momentous summers.
In this deeply tender novel, T, Greenwood weaves deftly between the past and present to create a poignant and wonderfully moving story of friendship, the resonance of memories, and the love that keeps us afloat.
Bodies of Water is about twos suburban "housewives" who live across the street, fall in love and find hope and escape from the daily drudgery of their lives for a short time.
Greenwood does a terrific job exploring a powerful and complicated love story as well as the repression of the era.
The novel is a timely reminder that life was not "great" for many Americans in the earlys.
Greenwood's writing is clear and resonant and I will certainly read more of her novels, Thanks for the recommendation David! A tragic love story of two women stuck in unhappy marriages during the's.
The story moves between present day and the early's, Both husbands are alcoholics and one is quite violent, The author mentioned in an interview that while the story is a work of fiction, the character Billie was actually based on her aunt.
Overall, I found it to be a memorable and worthwhile read, The love story is haunting with passages that were profoundly moving, I was born inso it is somewhat hard for me to comprehend how women lived by the rules and mores of that time.
. . before we 'burnt the bra' so to speak, Husbands made all the rules, wives stayed home, and married, because that is what was expected of them and they didn't question their husbands regardless of whether they were good men, or bad.
Wives didn't work outside the home as a rule, but the work in the home was by far more exhausting.
. . the floors were cleaned and washed Everyday, meals made from scratch, groceries bought daily for freshness, The children were taught RESPECT above all things they were up to do their chores, get ready for school, and not bother Dad when he came home from a hard day they did what they were told, Period.
Women never questioned those strange 'feelings' they had they put them aside, thought they were disturbed somehow to feel things that were not the 'norm'.
Women could be 'locked' away for feeling things that didn't gel with society in that time, and their husbands could just sign them away for observation.
I'm not sure what I would hold onto from that time, maybe only the innocence of that bygone era.
. . but as a woman I am so very grateful to those women who came before me to stand up for themselves, to put their feelings and needs to the forefront, to fight for equal rights not only for jobs and pay but for Love! We've come a LONG way, Ladies and to those that paved the way I am forever grateful!!!
That being said, this is an amazing Love Storyin every way.
. . motherhood, passion, family. It is a look at what was, and what is, It is about forgiveness, it is about memorieswhat are real, what are just fragments of real, It's about holding on to a dream, and about letting go!
Thank you T, Greenwood for a wonderful experience!
,stars
When GR friend Heather recently said this was one of her all time favourite books I added it to my list straight away and the local library had a copy so I thought why not get into while its fresh on my mind.
I can certainly see why its so popular its a very moving love story with authentic characters and told with great compassion and empathy.
T. Greenwood conveys the simple family life, the domesticity, the patriarchy of the earlys really well and skilfully shifts between Billie as on older woman reminiscing about her earlier life and that time someyears prior when she met her neighbour Eva.
I feel a bit mean taking half a star off but I just wasnt crazy about the ending.
This is a very minor quibble though, I am now really keen to read her latest book Rust and Stardust,
.Stars. This is a story aboutwomen, Billie amp Eva and is set in the earlys when housewives stayed home to raise children amp obey their husbands.
Makes you realize what a different amp unaccepting time it was, This is not your typical love story, yet it was tender amp beautiful, . . I couldn't put it down, The ending made me cry, which was a little awkward since I was reading it while walking on the treadmill at the YMCA! Very well written amp would totally recommend.
this was an amazing book!! will be adding it to my must read at least once a year list! I loved the way Greenwood interweaved the past and present while telling this love story.
Literally could not stop reading this once I started, first time reading this author but it will definitely not be the last time! going to read all previous work now.
I really like this author and all her books, but this is my favorite to date, Billie was such a great character, Her struggle was so well written and I found myself feeling so much for her and wanting her to have her happy ending!
The relationship between she amp Eva was so taboo during that time period, and her struggle to find happiness while not being able to have what would really make her happy was heartbreaking.
Compound that with an alcholic husband who really didn't treat her well most of the time.
This author has a fabulous way with words that make you really feel what the characters are feeling.
Loved the way the ending played out! ”This is what I know: memory is the same as water.
It permeates and saturates. Quenches and satisfies. It can hold you up or pull you under render you weightless or drown you, It is tangible, but elusive, My memories of Eva are like this: the watery dreams of the past I can no more easily grasp than a fistful of the ocean.
”
I am not crying, I am not crying.
I. AM. NOT. FUCKING. CRYING.
I almost never cry in books, but this book had me a sniveling, sobbing mess.
I wasnt expecting this book to pack the punch that it did, and I certainly didnt ever suspect I would care about a couple as much as I did Billie and Eva.
But the surprises are neverending with this book, as I soon learned from reading,
Billie Valentine is a housewife living a relatively normal life in Vermont, Its thes, so her primary job is to stay home, take care of the house and her two girls, and make her husband happy.
Its a boring existence, and not the easiest of ones since Frank isnt the best husband to have or even her first choice.
”That was the one thing about Frankie, He was able to see the potential in things, Im fairly certain that was the only reason why hed wound up with me in the first place.But her world is about to change when new neighbors move in across the street, bringing on the arrival of the Wilson family.
I was fixerupper in his eyes, A girl with real potential, ”
Another pictureperfect family, Eva Wilson is the seemingly ideals housewife, and she and Billie become fast friends.
It soon turns into something more, and at a time when lesbian relationships were considered extremely taboo, theirs must be kept a secret.
But as they soon find out, some secrets arent meant to be kept quiet,
Im really at a loss for words to describe this novel, Theres an overwhelming sadness about it, but theres also an underlying sense of optimism about it, As if the author herself isnt ready to give up on the idea that maybe, just maybe, she can give her characters the happiness they deserve.
It obviously doesnt turn out that way since shell put your emotions through the ringer, but its there.
As you watch Billie and Evas relationship develop from friendship to something more, youll really be able to see their bond deepen.
Some couples in literature claim to have a deep bond, but they really dont, Here, there will be no denying it no question that they not only truly love each other, but are meant to be together.
”I am thinking of Eva as I walk from the bar back to my cottage.At times though, youll chide them for being so seemingly selfish and careless about their relationship, particularly when it comes to their children.
She is in the swaying palm trees, in the moon, in the receding tide, I hear her voice in the tinkling wind chimes that hang from my porch, feel her touch in the breeze.
”
Youll cluck your tongue at how in the world they could just let six and seven year olds trick or treat by themselves while they have a tryst in the woods.
But at the same time, youll understand in a weird and twisted way, why they have to be so fucking selfish.
Because being selfish is the only way they can
have a relationship, If anyone found out, theyd crucify them, We see through this book how far weve come, and how much work we have to do,
This was alternately the most beautiful love story Ive read so far this year but also the most heartbreaking.
Ive never rooted for a ship harder than I have for this one, and while I didnt quite get the happy ending I was looking for, what I got instead was the most beautiful and tender of love stories that shows that no matter how much time passes, love will almost always conquer all.
”If they were to listen, to really listen, they would hear the waves crashing on the shore behind her, beating like a pulse: Eva..
Eva. ”