Not One of Her Best

I have been an avid reader of Anne Rivers Siddons books since "Homeplace", written in the late '80's. Her last three books, have been very disappointing to me including "Islands".
While Siddons still has a "feel" for the Carolina Lowcountry, where I live, she has lost her ability to make her characters seem plausible and alive. Her plot in this last book is disjointed and boring. I almost put it down without finishing it but then read about the strange ending so I perservered and sure enough, the ending was terrible. Upon closing the cover I had to pronounce it a waste of time and the ending disjointed from the plot. It made no sense to follow these close friends through years of ups and downs only to find out one is a murderer! I sincerely hope Ms. Siddons can and will return to her writing style that was present in "King's Oak", "Colony", and the "Outer Banks". These, to me, are her best efforts.

Vintage Siddons

I am not going to summarize the book, amazon does that quite well! So just my review...
I am a huge fan of Ms. Siddons', I have been reading her books from the first. She is the type of author that you take her book and not just read it, but wrap it around you, and you become a part of her story. This book was no exception. I really liked the characters. Of course the setting, as in so many of her books, was another character.
I gave it four, (really wanted to give it four and a half), instead of five only because of the ending. Something happens at the end,that I think needed a little more story. I felt like maybe her editor told her to hurry up. Overall though, a really good read, and well worth the time.

Who cares about any of the characters?

I have read most of Anne Rivers Siddons previous books and was looking forward to this one. I was extremely disappointed in the lack of character depth. I never felt any compassion for or real interest in any of the characters. Often I found myself saying, "this is ridiculous".

Actually I didn't think the ending was any worse then the rest of the book, which isn't saying much.

I bought the book to read and share with my daughter, another Siddons fan, but I told her not to waste her time. I recommend the other Siddons books, but not this one.