Book Review: "Up Island"

I finished a book last week, and am one step closer to meeting my goal to read twelve books this year.  I did start reading it in December, so I had a bit of a head start.

The book I finished is "Up Island" by Anne Rivers Siddons.  I read it using the Kindle app on my iPhone 6 Plus.  Side note:  this bigger phone makes it so much easier to read books.  I love it.

This is actually the second time I've read this book, so before I get into my informal review, let me take you back a few years to that first time, and how I came to read it a second time.

"Up Island" was published in 1997, and I read it just a few years after that.  It affected me in a big way, apparently, because I thought about it many times since then.  I only had a fleeting memory of the story, and couldn't even remember the title or the author's name.  But I did remember the vivid descriptions of a rough Winter in Martha's Vineyard.  Winter is my favorite season, snow is my favorite precipitation, and visiting Martha's Vineyard is on my bucket list, so the story had a lot of the elements that I love.

Fast forward to a month or so ago.  The Winter images from the story were on my mind more than usual, and soon I was drawn to try to find out what the title of the book was so I could read it again.

Can I just say how much I love Google?  I simply entered "book Martha's Vineyard winter" in the search box, and Google delivered the book title right to me.  I instantly recognized it, and reading the books description confirmed that it was the one I had been looking for.  Amazing!  I purchased it right then and was reading it in minutes.

Molly Redwine is the main character, and the story is about a woman whose husband of many years leaves her for a younger woman.  She grapples with the heartbreak and after-effects while soon after being faced with her mother's death.  She goes to Martha's Vineyard in the Summer with a good friend to get away from it all, and decides to stay by herself through the Fall and Winter.

She faces many obstacles, from dealing with the loss of her caretaker identity, to facing the harsh Massachussets Winter, to battling wits with a couple of swans.

I could relate to the main character and the challenges she faced, and later overcame.  She is a strong female character, and I think the story's message teaches a good lesson about finding your strength in the midst of adversity.

I enjoyed the book the first time I read it, and I enjoyed it even more this time.  I would even consider reading it again, just to relive the vivid Wintry description

What are you reading these days?  If you have suggestions for my reading list, please share in the comments!