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Someplace Like This
Permanent Press
ISBN 978-1579620905
"Ashley, a prize-winning
poet (Salt), makes the transition from poetry to fiction
with graceful eloquence in this novel about a couple who
move from New York City to their island summer home in an
attempt to repair their fractured marriage. The story is
told from the point of view of 37-year-old Dore, a
thoughtful, withdrawn woman whose discontent with her
husband, Evan, is so profound that she declares on the eve
of her anniversary, "Tomorrow we've been married at least a
thousand years." The couple packs and moves to the cottage,
where Dore lives full time while Evan continues to work in
Manhattan and comes out to the island for weekends. Their
troubles, unsurprisingly, don't lift with the change of
scenery. This is Dore's second marriage, we learn, her first
having fallen apart after her infant daughter died in a car
accident Dore still feels guilty about. These memories
emerge during a flirtation with a handsome local waiter, one
of the distractions Dore finds on the island, along with
gardening and long walks. Dore's marital woes, like the
emotional arc of the novel, are familiar, but she is likable
and always convincing. Her lively, self-deprecating sense of
humor also doesn't hurt. While the novel falls short of
revelatory, Ashley shows a fine ear and an emotional acuity
that make her book a pleasure to read. "
—
Publishers Weekly
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