Published by Hogarth
Publication date: May 26th 2015
The Shore by Sara Taylor may qualify as one of the most unusually formatted books I’ve read in a long time. Take a family tree composed of over fifty members, stretching from the 1850s to 2143. Close your eyes, throw a dart at the tree and wherever it land–that’s a chapter. So, even though Medora Slater is the matriarch who gets this clan started, she doesn’t make an appearance until chapter four. Instead, in what is one of the most explosive first chapters I’ve ever read, the novel opens in 1995 with thirteen-year-old Chloe informing her little sister about a neighbor’s murder. From there the chapters in The Shore clatter, clang, jangle and ping like the silver ball bashing around inside a pinball machine. Each turn of the page leads to another careening dash downhill in a family that seems born for misery.
The stories of The Shore are largely those of the family’s women and even when they are strong and mystical, imbued with the power to heal or bring rain, more often than not they are also abused and mistreated. Taylor writes their tales with a flat affect that sometimes feels brusque and unpleasant but sadly realistic. As one bruised wife reflects about another
Even so, you know they’ll see and wonder what you said, what you did, how you failed to keep it together this time.
The women are the heart of The Shore, but Taylor goes far beyond them in the hundreds of years she explores. By the novel’s end in 2143 each generation’s actions have rippled out, impacting both humans and nature, with grim results.
Taylor’s formatting choice in The Shore is a double–edged sword. Distilling all that time into chapters is exhilarating in how fast it moves, but aggravating in its sense of disorientation. The randomness of the timeline combined with the number of characters, results in a feeling of disconnection. The drawing of the family tree at the beginning of the book is critical but using it to figure out who’s who completely stops the novel’s flow. While this was somewhat problematic for me, I still found the story Taylor was telling to be one I’m very glad I read.
I’m with you on the structure…I didn’t see the purpose of making it so confusing. More confusing does not equal = more “literary” or smarter. But, man, that first chapter was something, right?!
I’m psyched about her next novel.
I didn’t know she has another one coming out! I have her previous one Boring Girls, but haven’t read it yet.
That first chapter was…well, awesome is not the right word, but you know what I mean. I almost dropped my Kindle!
I loved The Shore so much more than I thought I would. It wasn’t a 5 star book, but it was close. I had trouble figuring out who was narrating one of the stories, and I agree about learning the family tree at the beginning. Some of the connections didn’t really hit me until later on in the book, but I loved the grittiness and survival of those women. Great review!
Taylor did narrate a number of the chapters in the first person, which felt like a bit much given how confusing the timeline was. Like you, I had to keep going back to see what the connections were.
Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words!
I love your pinball machine analogy in the opening paragraph. Your writing is always so strong!
One big flaw of e-readers is that things like maps and family trees never translate well and it’s hard to keep going back to them. I usually take a picture with my phone so I can keep referring to it there. Anyway, this book sounds creative, but maybe too dependent on the family tree. That, and jumping around in time, makes The Shore one for me to skip.
The publishers didn’t do it any favors- the print ARC didn’t have the family tree at all!! I have both and went with the e-ARC because at least I could Go To the family tree and see it (tiny as it was!).
The good news is that it’s a quick read and Taylor’s writing is really strong. The themes play a bit into what’s going on in America now- at least if we keep ignoring nature.
I read The Shore, but it didn’t stick with me in many of the details. However, I remembered the first and last chapters, when you mentioned them. I rated it 5 stars on LibraryThing in December 2015, too! I wonder if I read it too quickly; I do remember now referring back to the family tree a lot.
I’m not sure I’ll like the format of this novel (sounds confusing) — though I’m a bit interested in its setting of the islands off Virginia. I once lived in Virginia and took road trips to the coast and Eastern shore so this one allures me by that.
It is definitely a bit challenging, but I know Sarah at Sarah’s Book Shelves really enjoyed it because she’s from that area as well. So, maybe it would still be worthwhile for you. Also, it’s a pretty quick read!
I’m on the fence about this one. I love magical realism and the format actually really appeals to me, but I’m put off by the fact that it sounds pretty dark. Great review! I thought your description of how the book jumps around was really evocative.
Thank you! The darkness part is accurate, but the magical realism is pretty subdued- only found in 2 family members so it’s not a focus. But if you’re not in a place to read about the depravity of men then you might want to wait.
I didn’t realize that this book moved into the future. Hmmm, I’d thought this would work for my book club but that’s going to be a dicey choice for these ladies and the complexities with the time line you describe will have many of them just giving up. Think I’ll still at least give it a go.