Saturday, March 23, 2013

The End of the Point

Elizabeth Graver's novel The End of the Point chronicles three generations of one family as well as the place they vacationed for their summers.
In 1942 as World War II rages, Bea arrives for summer at Ashaunt Point in Massachusetts to take care of the Porter daughters Helen and Dossie.  The war might have changed the appearance of the island for the summer as Bea notices the paved roads, yet the summer traditions continue unchanged. This is the summer marked by Bea's falling in love, yet unable to move away from the family she has also grown to love.
As Bea narrates the first portion of this novel, the intricacies of the Porter family are revealed and as the  novel progresses we see the daughters grow up and Bea grow old. Helen marries and has children, always returning to Ashaunt. Her oldest son, Charlie who narrates a portion of The End of the Point, is often in trouble finding it impossible to live up to his mother's dreams for him.  
Despite all the changes in the family - births, deaths, marriages - Ashaunt Point, its beauty described by Graver, remains as the family's anchor.  The Porters are a family I have thought of after the last pages were turned, and find hard to get out of my mind, just as their nanny Bea found it impossible to forget them herself.

1 comment:

Anna said...

I'm glad to hear the characters are so memorable. I've just started this book and am enjoying it so far.