Sea Glass

Sea Glass by Anita Shreve is a narrative novel that unfolds during the tight times of the Depression. It highlights the lives of two newlyweds and those that encompass their tight, but varied circle of friends, co-workers, and comrades.

It's a truly gripping account of the nitty gritty life of people trying to make it in a time of bread lines and strikes. From the couple just starting out to the privileged elite, the effects of the times touched all.

Sexton, the young virile salesman and wife of Honora who must humble himself.

Vivian, the rich debutante with money to spare and a heart that turns to gold.

McDermott, the quiet thinke with more honor than most.

Alice Willard and her hopeful letters.

Alphonse, the young boy with the experience and ways of a man.

And Honora. Naive, then worldly Honora who loses her visions, and dreams, and innocence and gains wisdom, but a wisdom with at an enormous price.

The dissection of the marriage between Honora and Sexton is so well written and more relevant than any I've encountered in any book.

At one point when Honora has had it with Sexton and his whiny, reclusive, unaffectionate ways, she feels the need to talk to Sexton about something that's truly upsetting her. And that is the moment Sexton brings home a gaggle of people to the house for a few days of work. The energy and zest these people bring to their home is palpable, and it invigorates Sexton for the first in a very long time. However, at their first moment alone Honora brings up what's bothering her.

The words that describe how Sexton feels about this opened my eyes to the juxtaposition between a husband and a wife. Men and women think and feel so very differently and if we could just acknowledge a little more how the other thinks and feels, things would run a lot more smoothly.

Sexton thinks, "Jesus Christ, why is she doing this? Doesn't she see that it's the first time he hasn't felt like a bum since Christmas? He hasn't felt this good, this useful, since the late fall, nearly a year ago. And she wants to pick this particular moment to have this fight? Has she forgotten what it was like all winter and all through the spring, when he was so tired and depressed and... ashamed... that he could hardly look at her?"

The vulnerable hidden beneath a false facade of bravado and the air of not caring.

The story of a marriage, of friendships, of hardships, or trying times and what endures, Sea Glass is a great read. It would make a compliment to history studies on the Great Depression in high school, too. The novel is a personal account of life in the time my grandparents grew up.

Sea Glass is up for grabs... if you want it, let me know.