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Though beautifully crafted and well-intentioned, Body Surfing comes up short
Anita Shreve is a master of lyrical, elegant prose that pulls readers in. In each of her thirteen novels, she creates beautiful settings and characters that are aloof and never allow readers to fully know them. Her latest novel, Body Surfing, is no exception. In the novel, 29-year-old Sydney is a bit adrift. The twice married (once divorced, once widowed) former graduate student is trying to pick up the pieces of her life following her second husband Daniel’s death. As any grieving widow discovers, starting over is not easy. Sydney’s unsure about returning to school or a career path that interests her. She accepts a summer job with the Edwards family as a tutor for their developmentally slow but beautiful daughter, Julie. Sydney lives with the family at their beach house and tries to prepare Julie, who is 18 at the beginning of the book, for the SAT’s and her senior year of high school. Mrs. Edwards takes an instant dislike to Sydney and treats her more like hired help than her daughter’s teacher and friend; Mr. Edwards likes the new tutor and helps to ease some of the tension in the household. Though Julie is not much of a student, her parents are determined for her to attend college. One day Sydney learns that the girl is a talented artist and she tries to help her develop those skills rather than just reading and math. Things become complicated when the Edwards’ older sons—MIT professor Jeff, 35, and 31-year-old Ben, a real estate developer—come to the beach house. The brothers and Sydney go swimming together, and one of them (we don’t learn which one until near the end) gropes Sydney. Jeff has a girlfriend, Victoria, who comes with him and appears in the book for a few pages. Midway through the book, Jeff breaks off his relationship with Victoria and pursues Sydney. The book has a few twists and turns, particularly at the end. Body Surfing is intelligently crafted but a bit disjointed. Shreve tries to create a love triangle between the brothers and Sydney, but it never fully develops. There is a definite lack of romance and passion, particularly for a love triangle involving two brothers who have been competitive all of their lives. Sydney seems a bit underdeveloped as a character—readers are told, not shown, her grief for her late husband, and she seems very distant at times. There are several events that should cause a stronger reaction from the characters (Julie comes home drunk, then runs away from home a few days later, the sudden breakup between Jeff and Victoria), but they are either glossed over or not mentioned at all. Shreve gets applause for the taut, sparse text that makes up the novel, but comes up short in both plot and character development.
The copyright of the article Book Review: Body Surfing in Chick Lit is owned by Sara G. Hodon. Permission to republish Book Review: Body Surfing in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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