- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: Chatto & Windus (3 Jun 1976)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0701121734
- ISBN-13: 978-0701121730
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Product Description
Product Description
When her daredevil husband is killed, Elizabeth "Olly" Bax is left a widow at age 27 and must find the strength to sort out her feelings and prepare for the future.
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First Sentence
My husband died sailing off the coast of Maine, leaving me a widow at the age of twenty-seven. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
My husband died sailing off the coast of Maine, leaving me a widow at the age of twenty-seven. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you've never read Laurie Colwin, you're in for a treat. And if you have read her work, don't overlook this title, which is (I think!) her first novel.
This is the story of Elizabeth "Ollie" Bax, who is left a widow at 27. When her husband dies in a sailing accident, a grieving Ollie moves to New York City with her piano and tries to adjust to her new life with the help of her brother in law, Patrick.
That's really what happens. Most of the story is about Ollie's emotional life. Colwin's depiction of Ollie's grief is detailed, never maudlin and often funny. The writing is spare and lyrical; she never wastes a word. Despite the subject matter, I found it very uplifting.
This is the story of Elizabeth "Ollie" Bax, who is left a widow at 27. When her husband dies in a sailing accident, a grieving Ollie moves to New York City with her piano and tries to adjust to her new life with the help of her brother in law, Patrick.
That's really what happens. Most of the story is about Ollie's emotional life. Colwin's depiction of Ollie's grief is detailed, never maudlin and often funny. The writing is spare and lyrical; she never wastes a word. Despite the subject matter, I found it very uplifting.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
One of my favorites
3 April 2000
Format:Paperback
I think this is her best novel, though Happy All The Time is probably my favorite. Shine On.... is the story of Ollie Bax, widowed at 27 by her daredevil husband. The language is beautiful, and Colwin's portrait of Ollie's grief is full of surprises and, oddly enough, comedy. Her language is astonshing in the evocativeness of the detail, which is intimate but never overwhelms her prose. Her descriptions "He smelled like cooked sugar" -- they made me feel like I recognized a place I'd never been to.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Shine on, Laurie
27 Dec 2001
Format:Paperback
In my trips through Contemporary American Literature I have not found anyone with better sense for character development than Laurie Colwin. What a shame she died so young! I have read a few of her other novels, but nowhere is this skill better shown than in this work. In this story, a young woman (Olly) becomes a widow after her husband (the `bright and dangerous' of the title) dies in a boating accident. She and her brother in law grieve together, and almost as a consequence they fall in love. This story, explain so succinctly, sounds like it came from a pulp romance. In fact, it is slightly corny in its premise. However, Laurie Colwin depicts the pain, the anguish, the disbelief, and the whole array of emotions that the main characters go through. She does it in such a detailed, intimate way, that I would recommend this book to anyone that is going through a grieving process.
But! I could not give it five start because of Part III. Part I deals mostly with the blow, the sadness and the moving on, and Part II with Olly's new life as a widow in NYC. But Part III focuses on her trip to music camp, and what develops there. Without giving too much of the story away, I do not understand how Olly, now happily in love, could justify her behavior. It is all explained in there, I have to admit that. But my shortcomings as a reader get in the way, and I was disappointed about the ending. In any case, this is a great book, and a prime example of the exquisite skill that Laurie Colwin left us with.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
A beautiful love story about an unlikely couple.
31 Mar 1999
Format:Paperback
The late Laurie Colwin was masterful at creating stories about relationships. Never sentimental but always deeply moving, "Shine On.." is the story of a young widow and her brother-in-law. You'll never forget this story or Olive and Patrick. A beautifully romantic story.
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