FELLOWSHIP POINT (2022) - Review

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
On Sale: July 5, 2022

Our lives today are filled with quantity, which perhaps explains why readers shun longer books demanding more of our time. Not bothering to check the number of pages (560), I was drawn to "Fellowship Point" because of the older characters. (Also I grew up in Philadelphia vacationing summers in Maine, locations where the book is set.) Before I got very far into the book, I debated whether to continue but I picked it up again. Alice Elliott Dark has changed how I will be selecting books in the future. Quality first.

FIRST SENTENCE: "Such a perfect day for writing, gray and quiet."

THE STORY: Two eighty year old life-long friends decide it's time to make arrangements for the beloved summer land their families have owned for generations on the Maine Coast. Should the land be saved or developed?

Agnes is a famous children's author, who has never married, while her best friend Polly chose marriage and family. How is it that after all these years they end up on opposite sides of the proposed ownership of Fellowship Point?

WHAT I THOUGHT: Scattered with literary illusions and some lovely and not so lovely thoughts about aging, this is an insightful examination of women's lives. Parts of the story are told through journals and letters moving back and forth in time slowly revealing the secrets of the past. There are life lessons to be learned from the complicated, beautifully drawn, layered characters. The author has great insight into these two women, who are still worthy of the lives they've lived and the people they've loved. The writing is gorgeous; the cover is beautiful; and the ending is perfect.

BOTTOM LINE: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for those who still find time to savor elegant novels. The book is a little overlong for today's reader.

DISCLAIMER: I received a free e-copy of "Fellowship Point" by Alice Elliott Dark from NetGalley/Scribner for my honest review.

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