Laurus and Sydney fall in love.Laurus is a well-known musician from Denmark. Laurus and Sydney marry. Laurus goes off to defend Denmark in World War II. He leaves Sydney pregnant and stays in Europe for several years, for the duration of the war. During the war, Laurus's sister, Nina joins the resistance and eventually is caught and sent to a concentration camp. Laurus returns to the U. S. and he and Sydney have several more children. Their son is a trouble maker and is kicked out of a number of boarding schools.
Sydney, like her mother, is more concerned with herself and how she looks to other people than she is her children. Each summer the family spends their time in Maine at Leeway Cottage participating in sailing, parties, and golfing. If you are interested in family sagas spanning from the 1930's to the 1990's this is an interesting story. ( )

I had a little reading getaway, and this was the book I chose--how fun to read something like this in one sitting! The kind of book you really sink into. A really interesting mix of a family novel and history (Denmark in WWII)--Gutcheon did a great job of seamlessly mixing the two. ( )

A Victorian summer house – Leeway Cottage – is the one constant in the life of Annabee Sydney Brant Moss. Covering the time period from 1924 to 1993, this book explores the relationship between two people who are very different. Annabee grows up the privileged only child of a father who dotes on her and a mother who seems to resent her. They live in Ohio but have a summer home on the coast of Maine. Laurus is a Dane, a musician who left Europe for New York, but who has a strong sense of responsibility towards his family and his countrymen.

In general I like character-driven novels, and I really enjoyed this look at a marriage through the eyes of two very different people. Sydney had my full sympathies when she was still a child called Annabee. But as she matured I liked her less and less. It was interesting to see the great influence her mother had on her despite her efforts to distance herself from Candace. Laurus was more of an enigma. A musician and a patriot, he chafed under the restraints imposed by the war, but still felt a patriotic duty to serve. His facility with languages and deep knowledge of Europe made him valuable to the Allied forces, but his fame meant he had to remain at a distance. That forced restraint seems to have never left him, however.

I’m struggling with how to describe the book because I really don’t want to give an entire synopsis, and there is much that happens. The story covers several decades, after all, though much of the action is concentrated during the World War II era. I found the scenes dealing with Laurus’ family back in Denmark during the war particularly compelling, and I definitely wanted more of this story. But Gutcheon uses multiple points of view and moves back and forth in time as people remember past events, so I’m left feeling as if I’ve only scratched the surface.

I am reminded that there are many stories in the people around me; that what we see of a person – even one we think we know well - may be only the tip of the iceberg.
( )

The characters in this book were so believable, not especially loveable, but certainly believable. The story ranges from Sydney's childhood to her death and the road from being an emotionally scarred child to a an emotionally scarring mother and grandmother. Unfortunately, so often we become the very people we have despised earlier. The plot involving the Danish resistance during WWII was very interesting and one that I have not run across in any other historical fiction. The writing was readable, precise, and compelling.

The only reason I gave this a four star rather than five was the rushed feeling I got during approximately the last fourth of the book. It almost felt as we were fast-forwarding just to get to the end. And, although the chapter of Nina's horrific experiences in a German concentration camp helped explain her personality, it almost seemed a bit gratuitous, but it did provide a sharp contrast to the selfish and shallow yet sad Sydney.

I would recommend this to any lover of historical fiction especially during WWII and after. ( )

i bought this on a discount table and did not expect much so i was very pleasantly surprised at this well written story.story moves between a coastal cottage are in Maine and NYC. it moves back in time to Nazi occupied Denmark and post war USA. the characters of Sydney and Laurus are well defined and reached out to me. I could understand them both. I was sorry that sydney degenerated into not such a nice person as i quite liked her character at the start. She was always interesting though as was her mother Cassandra. i really enjoyed this book ( )