Katherine TowlerBesprekingen

The third in the Snow Island trilogy moves onto the Gulf War time period as the islanders' stories seem to run out of steam. There are two gay women couples in difficulty, and the restless Nick, Alice's son, and Rachel, featured in the second book Evening Ferry, are having a fraught affair. One of the gay women, Ruth, is the daughter of Lydia, who was best friends with Alice in the first and best of the series, but nothing much is made of the connection.

This second of a trilogy about life on the small Snow Island (probably the real life Prudence Island) off the RI coast confusingly (to me) advances in time and leave behind the characters that populated the first novel. However, island life deepens convincingly for Rachel Shattuck, who returns from a divorce and to care for her father, who she has always seen as a difficult villain in her family, when her mother dies and her father is injured. She becomes the teacher for the island's one-room schoolhouse and plunges into her late mother's journals, which reveal a very different reality than what Rachel saw growing up. It's very well written and perhaps even meatier than the first novel Snow Island.½

This first of a trilogy was written almost 20 years ago, about events leading up to WW II, and somehow it shows its age while remaining an enjoyable read, especially if you love books about island life. Snow Island is offshore from Bristol, RI, and only a few people are year-rounders. When Alice's father, a quahogger, drowns at sea, the community sets up her mother as the proprietor of the island store and the postmistress. Her mother is portrayed as a weak and silly woman, without the urgency to care for her family, and Alice, even before graduating from high school in a class of three, has to be the adult. She becomes involved with three island men, but the loneliness of Snow Island and its few inhabitants, and the perpetual snobbery of the wealthy summer folk, lack drama. Still, one must read on and find out how it all turns out.½

An interesting read about life on a small island during WWII. The characters are all really well written and I definitely got a sense of life on Snow Island. It was interesting to see how drastically life changed after Pearl Harbor. There is a true sense of place in this novel. Even while people are away, the island is always in the back of their minds.

Alice Daggett lives on Snow Island with her mother and younger brother. Since her father's death five years ago, 16-year-old Alice has helped her mother run the island's small store.

George Tibbits grew up on Snow Island in the well-known "twin houses" with his two aunts. Years earlier, he left to serve in the army and returned to the island in 1919 to find both the women who cared for him dead in their respective homes. Now, he returns to the island every summer in an effort to reconcile their deaths.

Snow Island is a quiet novel that unfolds during three summers on the fictional island in the early 1940s. As the United States is pulled into World War II, the islanders are affected by the conflict in ways they never could have expected, and George and Alice learn hard lessons about love and life during a tumultuous time in history.

This simple novel was beautifully written. The romantic island setting provides the perfect backdrop for the despondent characters as they sort through their relationships with one another and watch as the war changes life on the island. An irresistible melancholy permeates this novel and it's characters have stayed with me even after finishing the book. Snow Island is the first of a trilogy about the island (although Towler is still writing the third book) and after finishing it, I will definitely seek out the next book, Evening Ferry, to find out what happens to Alice and George and their island life.

I was so glad to find a second book following the same characters because although I enjoyed the first book, Snow Island, I wanted to know "what happened" next. This book solved several of the questions I had, and added a few more! This book takes place 20 years after the first---now there is room for at least one more book---which I hope is at least in process.½

I have the next book in this series sitting here and I'm hoping, somehow, that there is more about the characters in this book in it.
It was tough reading in odd ways, war and the related circumstances from the view of an island of relatively isolated people. Events seemed to just keep dropping into the mix before the characters could finish with them--just like real life. I "enjoyed" reading it but I'm torn over my reactions to the complexities---there wasn't enough time in my head to react to one before another one hit.½

Debut Author - Excellent book

This book is set in the '60s. Rachel grew up on Snow Island but left it years ago. She is now a divorced schoolteacher still dealing with the death of her mother when her father, Nate, is involved in a construction accident and Rachel goes back to the island temporarily to care for him even though their relationship is rocky at best. Nate gives Rachel some notebooks that her mother used as diaries, and as Rachel reads them, her whole perspective changes about her mother and father. Wonderful story about the isolated and harsh life on the island and the loyalties of the people who live there and the gray areas of family life and forgiveness. Enjoyed this book very much.½