Fellowship Point: A Novel
“A magnificent storytelling feat” (The Boston Globe) story of lifelong friendship between two very different “superbly depicted” (The Wall Street Journal) women with shared histories, divisive loyalties, hidden sorrows, and eighty years of summers on a pristine point of land on the coast of Maine, set across the arc of the 20th century.
Celebrated children’s book author Agnes Lee is determined to secure her legacy—to complete what she knows will be the final volume of her pseudonymously written Franklin Square novels; and even more consuming, to permanently protect the peninsula of majestic coast in Maine known as Fellowship Point. To donate the land to a trust, Agnes must convince shareholders to dissolve a generations-old partnership. And one of those shareholders is her best friend, Polly.
Polly Wister has led a different kind of life than Agnes: that of a well-off married woman with children, defined by her devotion to her husband, a philosophy professor with an inflated sense of stature. She strives to create beauty and harmony in her home, in her friendships, and in her family. Polly soon finds her loyalties torn between the wishes of her best friend and the wishes of her three sons—but what is it that Polly wants herself?
Agnes’s designs are further muddied when an enterprising young book editor named Maud Silver sets out to convince Agnes to write her memoirs. Agnes’s resistance cannot prevent long-buried memories and secrets from coming to light with far-reaching repercussions for all.
“An ambitious and satisfying tale” (The Washington Post), Fellowship Point reads like a 19th-century epic, but it is entirely contemporary in its “reflections on aging, writing, stewardship, legacies, independence, and responsibility. At its heart, Fellowship Point is about caring for the places and people we love...This magnificent novel affirms that change and growth are possible at any age” (The Christian Science Monitor).
Celebrated children’s book author Agnes Lee is determined to secure her legacy—to complete what she knows will be the final volume of her pseudonymously written Franklin Square novels; and even more consuming, to permanently protect the peninsula of majestic coast in Maine known as Fellowship Point. To donate the land to a trust, Agnes must convince shareholders to dissolve a generations-old partnership. And one of those shareholders is her best friend, Polly.
Polly Wister has led a different kind of life than Agnes: that of a well-off married woman with children, defined by her devotion to her husband, a philosophy professor with an inflated sense of stature. She strives to create beauty and harmony in her home, in her friendships, and in her family. Polly soon finds her loyalties torn between the wishes of her best friend and the wishes of her three sons—but what is it that Polly wants herself?
Agnes’s designs are further muddied when an enterprising young book editor named Maud Silver sets out to convince Agnes to write her memoirs. Agnes’s resistance cannot prevent long-buried memories and secrets from coming to light with far-reaching repercussions for all.
“An ambitious and satisfying tale” (The Washington Post), Fellowship Point reads like a 19th-century epic, but it is entirely contemporary in its “reflections on aging, writing, stewardship, legacies, independence, and responsibility. At its heart, Fellowship Point is about caring for the places and people we love...This magnificent novel affirms that change and growth are possible at any age” (The Christian Science Monitor).
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Community Reviews
thenextgoodbook.com
What’s it about?
Agnes and Polly are now in their eighties and have been dear friends since childhood. They grew up together in Philadelphia and spent their summers in Maine on a shared family compound called Fellowship Point. Their lives have taken different trajectories but their friendship has never wavered. Agnes chose the path less taken and never married. She became a writer- famous for a series of well-known children’s books. Polly was the ultimate wife and mother to four children. Both devoted their lives to what they loved. As these two women look forward they both have a strong calling to keep Fellowship Point from landing in the hands of developers. As they look backward we see how time changes our perceptions of the world.
What did it make me think about?
Aging and old friendships.
Should I read it?
“Patience is a virtue” and this is a book that requires patience. At 100 pages I was not so sold on this one. It just seemed so old-fashioned and somewhat irrelevant. Boy was I wrong! This book takes on so many subjects- aging, feminism, elitism, marriage, parenting, and friendship to name a few. The story’s slow pace and well-drawn out characters were something to be savored- not rushed through. You do have to suspend disbelief at times as some of the plot lines seem coerced- but it all works together for good. If you like well-written characters then don’t miss this book.
Quote-
“Younger people always thought they’d never change, and that the diminishing eyesight and hearing loss and groping for names that was typical of everyone who lived long enough wouldn’t happen to them.”
“We were, we are, relentlessly, prideful, stoical. We admire fortitude. We were raised to think a person has a right to be upset, in the event of loss or disappointment, but there are ways to acknowledge it without plodding through the embarrassment of a scene. Stop crying. Pull yourself together. Be brave.”
What’s it about?
Agnes and Polly are now in their eighties and have been dear friends since childhood. They grew up together in Philadelphia and spent their summers in Maine on a shared family compound called Fellowship Point. Their lives have taken different trajectories but their friendship has never wavered. Agnes chose the path less taken and never married. She became a writer- famous for a series of well-known children’s books. Polly was the ultimate wife and mother to four children. Both devoted their lives to what they loved. As these two women look forward they both have a strong calling to keep Fellowship Point from landing in the hands of developers. As they look backward we see how time changes our perceptions of the world.
What did it make me think about?
Aging and old friendships.
Should I read it?
“Patience is a virtue” and this is a book that requires patience. At 100 pages I was not so sold on this one. It just seemed so old-fashioned and somewhat irrelevant. Boy was I wrong! This book takes on so many subjects- aging, feminism, elitism, marriage, parenting, and friendship to name a few. The story’s slow pace and well-drawn out characters were something to be savored- not rushed through. You do have to suspend disbelief at times as some of the plot lines seem coerced- but it all works together for good. If you like well-written characters then don’t miss this book.
Quote-
“Younger people always thought they’d never change, and that the diminishing eyesight and hearing loss and groping for names that was typical of everyone who lived long enough wouldn’t happen to them.”
“We were, we are, relentlessly, prideful, stoical. We admire fortitude. We were raised to think a person has a right to be upset, in the event of loss or disappointment, but there are ways to acknowledge it without plodding through the embarrassment of a scene. Stop crying. Pull yourself together. Be brave.”
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