Where or When

Anita Shreve

Sian Richards has just published her third book of poetry, an ad for which appears in the newspaper. When Charles Callahan happens upon the ad, and sees Sian's picture, he realizes that she is the girl he fell in love with at summer camp, when they were both 14, some 30-odd years ago. Overwhelmed with memory and emotion, he decides to write her a letter and thus begins a correspondence which leads the two of them, very quickly, into each other's arms. Trapped in unhappy marriages, together they find release from their individual realities and obsessively romanticize their relationship. Of course, guilt and complications ensue. And then, abruptly, the novel ends.

There is now no reason for any of you to read this book. The extent of its depth is encapsulated above. In fairness, it is a moving, quiet novel, at times both sad and beautiful in its language and emotion, but ultimately one which leaves you unsatisfied; it is so lean, both in length and development, that the reader is never afforded the opportunity to fully involve himself in its world. Everything about the story and its characters sits on the surface of the page, as if the writer is keenly afraid of exploring the deeper issues at hand.

With "Weight of Water" a few years later, Shreve proved that she is a very capable talent who can write above the sort of superficial emotion she concerns herself with here. Skip "Where or When," but don't skip Shreve altogether.