The
Shore
Sara
Taylor
The
first thing to note about this book is its structure; though
advertised as a novel, The
Shore
is a collection of short stories that follow the lives of several
generations (particularly women) of a family living on the Virginia
Barrier Islands. The stories do link up nicely, even if readers must
frequently refer to the family tree that Taylor provides at the front
of the book, and certain themes weave their way throughout the
collection. The interconnectedness is deliberate and easy to spot,
yet
feels
natural as secondary characters in one story come to the fore in
another. Most crucial is the legend of matriarch Medora, whose story
is told directly but becomes (understandably) distorted over the
generations, in a nice and relatively subtle metafictional nod to the
power of story and the peculiarities of family legends. Each story
feels complete while connecting to the greater whole, though one
story- that of someone who left the islands- seems to be missing,
leaving a gap in the otherwise tight mosaic. Other stories,
particularly the final quartet, diverge slightly from the previous
formula, following characters who are not Medora's direct descendants
and only given a more direct connection to the remainder at the end
of the book. Individual stories work well in isolation and their
variation showcases Taylor's array of skills as she utilizes
different narrative voices, tenses, and moods, making the characters
come alive and distinguishing them individually and temporally. These
stories truly feel like they are taking place in their own times,
even if Taylor stumbles a bit in her attempt to include non
sequitur
plague fiction; this particular
effort feels
a bit forced and introduces some thematic elements that Taylor fails
to exploit usefully. Despite this and some other minor stumbles, The
Shore
is an intriguing and engrossing portrait of a place, told through the
various lenses of a single family and the diverse experiences they
have, from poverty to profit and everywhere in between.
Grade:
A-
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