Compass Rose

Compass Rose

Itâ€™s been more than two decades since Spartina won the National Book Award and was acclaimed by critics as being â€œpossibly the best American novel . . . since The Old Man and the Seaâ€ (The New York Times Book Review), but in this extraordinary follow-up novel barely any time has passed in the magical landscape of salt ponds and marshes in John Caseyâ€™s fictional Rhode Island estuary.

Elsie Buttrick, prodigal daughter of the smart set who are gradually taking over the coastline of Sawtooth Point, has just given birth to Rose, a child conceived during a passionate affair with Dick Pierceâ€”a fisherman and the love of Elsieâ€™s life, who also happens to live practically next door with his wife, May, and their children. A beautiful but guarded woman who feels more at ease wading through the marshes than lounging on the porches of the fashionable resort her sister and brother-in-law own, Elsie was never one to do as she was told. She is wary of the discomfort her presence poses among some members of her gossipy, insular community, yet it is Rose, the unofficially adopted daughter and little sister of half the town, who magnetically steers everyone in her orbit toward unexpectedâ€”and unbreakableâ€”relationships. As we see Rose grow from a child to a plucky adolescent with a flair for theatrics both onstage and at home during verbal boxing matches with her mother, to a poised and prepossessing teenager, she becomes the unwitting emotional tether between Elsie and everyone else. â€œFace it, Mom,â€ Rose says, â€œwe live in a tiny ecosystem.â€ And indeed, like the rugged, untouched marshes that surround these characters, theirs is an ecosystem that has come by its beauty honestly, through rhythms and moods that have shaped and reshaped their lives.

With an uncanny ability to plunge confidently and unwaveringly into the thoughts and desires of womenâ€”mothers, daughters, wives, loversâ€”John Casey astonishes us again with the power of a family saga.

Country	USA
Author	John Casey
Binding	Hardcover
EAN	9780375410253
Edition	First Edition
Format	Deckle Edge
ISBN	0375410252
Label	Knopf
Manufacturer	Knopf
NumberOfItems	1
NumberOfPages	368
PublicationDate	2010-10-19
Publisher	Knopf
ReleaseDate	2010-10-19
Studio	Knopf

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