OK so this is not earth-shattering, but I just finished “The Dive from Clausen’s Pier” by Ann Packer and I am SO IRRITATED!!! I would NEVER have bothered with this stupid book had I known it would end this way. Interesting premise,
What would you do if your SO/fiance/spouse were to become paralyzed? Would you stay under all circumstances? What if relationship were already on the rocks?
and good development (though I thought she went too far into the seamstress subplot (?)), but then
aargh!!! Protag gives up an interesting man and a promising career in NYC to go BACK TO WISCONSIN where she’s lived her whole life, to friends she’s outgrown, a town she is tired of, and an ex-boyfriend she doesn’t love!!!
Wtf? Aaaaaarrrrgh. Has anyone else read it, and how did you feel about the ending?
One last thing lest I get attacked for being cold & heartless:
I admit she acted horribly to her (ex-)fiance while she was getting her head together after the accident, but after getting it together, she could have continued to be a support to him without actually going back to Madison to live…!
Please forgive if this has already been discussed; I did search.
I read it, but didn’t really care enough about the protag to feel too strongly about her choices.
How much are spoiler boxes required to discuss this? The book is not exactly new, is it? Here is some spoiler space.
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I didn’t think she acted terribly to the guy. She was having second thoughts before the incident. I didn’t feel she was necessarily bound to him when circs changed drastically. The worst aspect of her behavior was not openly admitting her feelings, and dumping him immediately.
I also did not understand why she gave up her developing life in NY to return to Wisc. Further evidence of her being wishy washy and not willing to make a difficult choice. Further reason for me to not really care about her.
I found it an interesting premise, but a rather blah telling.
Unlike you, I enjoyed the seamstress stuff, as Ms. D. is quite active in that area.
Continuing this conversation five days later, you’ve made me feel better about the ending, thanks. She’s a bit of an idiot anyway, so why should I care that much about anything she did?
Um, about spoilers, yeah I guess you’re right. I just hate knowing about a book before I read it, but then I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone, anyway.