The End of the Point: A Novel - Hardcover

Graver, Elizabeth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062184849 ISBN 13: 9780062184849

Publisher: Harper, 2013

Synopsis

Longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction

Ashaunt Point, Massachusetts, has anchored life for generations of the Porter family, who summer along its remote, rocky shore. But in 1942, the U.S. Army arrives on the Point, bringing havoc and change. That summer, the two older Porter girls—teenagers Helen and Dossie—run wild while their only brother, Charlie, goes off to train for war. The children’s Scottish nurse, Bea, falls in love. And youngest daughter Janie is entangled in an incident that cuts the season short. 

An unforgettable portrait of one family’s journey through the second half of the twentieth century, Elizabeth Graver’s The End of the Point artfully probes the hairline fractures hidden beneath the surface of our lives and traces the fragile and enduring bonds that connect us.

About this title

About the Author

Elizabeth Graver is the author of the novels Awake, The Honey Thief, and Unravelling; her short story collection Have You Seen Me? won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize. She is the mother of two daughters, and teaches English and creative writing at Boston College.

From the Back Cover

A place out of time, Ashaunt Point—a tiny finger of land jutting into Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts—has provided sanctuary and anchored life for generations of the Porter family, who summer along its remote, rocky shore. But in 1942, the U.S. Army arrives on the Point, bringing havoc and change. That summer, the two older Porter girls—teenagers Helen and Dossie—run wild. The children's Scottish nurse, Bea, falls in love. And youngest daughter Janie is entangled in an incident that cuts the season short and haunts the family for years to come.

As the decades pass, Helen and then her son Charlie return to the Point, seeking refuge from the chaos of rapidly changing times. But Ashaunt is not entirely removed from events unfolding beyond its borders. Neither Charlie nor his mother can escape the long shadow of history—Vietnam, the bitterly disputed real estate development of the Point, economic misfortune, illness, and tragedy.

An unforgettable portrait of one family's journey through the second half of the twentieth century, The End of the Point artfully probes the hairline fractures hidden beneath the surface of our lives and traces the fragile and enduring bonds that connect us. With subtlety and grace, Elizabeth Graver illuminates the powerful legacy of family and place, exploring what we are born into, what we pass down, preserve, cast off or willingly set free.

Reviews

*Starred Review* For generations, the wealthy Porter family has sought refuge in its vacation home at Ashaunt Point along Massachusetts’ rocky coastline. It’s a place where Helen and her siblings can run wild and free under the watchful eye of Bea and her fellow coterie of Scottish caregivers. All is well until WWII erupts and an army outpost is installed nearby. Soldiers lure Helen to dances, seduce Bea into a hasty romance, and rob Helen’s sister Jane of her innocence. Then word comes that her brother has been killed in action, and the world can no longer be held at bay. When Helen returns decades later as a young wife and mother, she tries to re-create Ashaunt’s former simplicity for her emotionally fragile son, but the Vietnam war and the counterculture take their toll. At the end of her life, as cancer ravages her body, Helen finds Ashaunt equally threatened by environmental disasters and encroaching development, and the outrage becomes too much to bear. With a style and voice reminiscent of William Trevor and Graham Swift, Graver’s powerfully evocative portrait of a family strained by events both large and small celebrates the indelible influence certain places can exert over the people who love them. --Carol Haggas

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0062184849
• ISBN 13: 9780062184849
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 338