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The Anniversary by [Stephanie Bishop]

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Stephanie Bishop

The Anniversary Kindle Edition

by Stephanie Bishop (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3.3 205 ratings

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Novelist J.B. Blackwood is on a cruise with her husband, Patrick, to celebrate their wedding anniversary.
Her former professor, Patrick is much older than J.B. But when they met, he seemed somehow ageless, as all new gods appear in the eyes of those who worship them. He is a film director. A cult figure. But now his success is starting to wane and J.B. is on the cusp of winning a major literary prize. Her art has been forever overseen by him, now it may overshadow his.

For days they sail in the sun. They lie about drinking, reading, sleeping, having sex. There is nothing but dark water all around them.

Then a storm hits and Patrick falls off the ship. J.B. is left alone, as the search for what happened to Patrick - and the truth about their marriage - begins.

Print length

420 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Publication date

30 Mar. 2023
File size

1855 KB
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Nathan Oates
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Charmaine Craig
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Stephanie Bishop
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Amy Beashel
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Naoise Dolan
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Product description

Book Description

'It was always hard to tell where our marriage ended, and my work began. I often dream now that I am drifting in a dark sea, the water around me lukewarm, like blood.'

With a stay-up-all-night plot, breathtaking prose, this is the story of a marriage and a death.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

The Anniversary is a haunting mystery, sophisticated, subtle and subversive. Bishop considers the discipline, scrupulous and otherwise, required to make a marriage, as well as to make art, capturing the longing and the disappointment inherent in the attempt to make one's self known to others. -- Susanna Moore, author of IN THE CUT

Tense, elegant, sensuous. -- Niamh Campbell, author of WE WERE YOUNG

In The Anniversary Stephanie Bishop expertly and mercilessly builds an atmosphere of intense uncertainty and threat. You won't want to put it down. -- Chris Power, author of MOTHERS

The dread that slowly creeps into your bones while reading The Anniversary is difficult to shake off, yet you cannot look away. I revelled in every bit of this astute, compelling, psychological novel. -- Virginia Feito, author of MRS MARCH

Exquisite, profound, and utterly exhilarating: The Anniversary is a stunning achievement. -- Mark Brandi, author of WIMMERA --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09YLYMB83
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Weidenfeld & Nicolson (30 Mar. 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1855 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 420 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 26,618 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 290 in Psychological Literary Fiction
- 526 in Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction
- 1,251 in Contemporary Literary Fiction

Customer reviews:
3.3 205 ratings

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Stephanie Bishop

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Customer reviews

3.3 out of 5

205 global ratings

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A better book is struggling to get out

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 August 2023

Verified Purchase

I found this hard going for a long time and was reluctant to pick it up once I'd put it down. The prose is very dense without much dialogue, and the narrator hard to like. I did start to get into it maybe half way through but feel that many readers would have given up by then. I'm glad I persevered but feel that more rigorous editing would have helped.

One person found this helpful

Stephen Kavanagh

Loved this book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 August 2023

Verified Purchase

Ironically I read this by the sea, on holiday on our Anniversary. Couldn’t put it down. Very dark humour, equal parts shocking and comic.

One person found this helpful

thinks it is more profound book than it is

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 May 2023

Verified Purchase

this started well but quickly turned itno a meandering mess which went off in numerous reflections on the arts of film making and writing to the detriment of the narrative flow and story line. whw analysed, lots of the sentenes were pretentious rubbish making no sense at all. this could have been a good book if it had displayed much more self discipline and focus

3 people found this helpful

Did he fall or was he pushed?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 July 2023

Powerful literary story of an imbalanced relationship and a husband lost overboard. Did he fall or was he pushed? Who decides what makes the edit of our lives and what is left out. Introspective and at times impossible to feel sympathy for the protagonist, beautifully written.

One person found this helpful

Unlikeable but well written characters!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 April 2023

Looking at the reviews, this appears to be a bit of a marmite book, but I really enjoyed it!

It tells the story of JB Blackwood, a successful author who has just been nominated for a literary prize. Prior to the winner of the award being announced, she decides to take a holiday with her husband, Patrick, to celebrate their anniversary. Whilst on their cruise, they hit a freak storm and Patrick is washed overboard.

The book starts off with a seemingly idyllic relationship between JB and Patrick. However, following Patrick's disappearance, we are then given further analysis of their real relationship and realise not everything is not what it seemed. There are many further elements to The Anniversary which I don't want to delve into due to spoilers.

I found The Anniversary well written and the characters given real depth, although I wouldn't necessarily say that any of them are likeable (but I'm ok with that!). It's a shame to me that this book isn't getting more attention - I really liked it!

Scotland sunset

Interesting plot

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 May 2023

I found the plot interesting although at times the story meandered during the retrospective recollections. I was able to read this via The Pigeonhole.

One person found this helpful

A fascinating insight into relationships, fame and jealousy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2023

Initially I had very mixed feelings about this book. At one point I almost gave up. It’s not that the writing isn’t wonderful and beautiful – it is – it just spends so much time looking inwards and I probably don’t have the patience. Maybe if I was on holiday, lying on the beach, with nothing else to do I would have been more invested. I just wanted the story to move forwards.

But – the last part of the story was totally engrossing and unbearably sad. I can’t say more without giving anything away. I’m just so glad I didn’t give up.

We first meet JB when she is Patrick’s student at university. She, like everyone else, idolises him. He seems taken with her, to the annoyance of other students. Not only is he her professor, he’s also at least 20 years older than her. But they are soulmates, each helping the other to become the best at their art. Until Patrick’s fame starts waning, while JB’s career as a novelist is on the up.

On their anniversary – it never states how many years exactly, though at one point she says she is roughly the same age as Patrick was when they met – they go on a cruise. Then tragedy strikes, there’s a storm and Patrick falls overboard. Incidentally I didn’t like Patrick one bit. I found him to be controlling, selfish, narcissistic and secretly misogynistic.

The Anniversary looks at the truth about that fateful night as well as the truth about their marriage. It’s a fascinating insight into relationships, fame and jealousy.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.

2 people found this helpful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2023

I found this an unusual read, in that there is very little dialogue. The story is told by the main character Lucie who is a writer. The fact that she is a writer makes her recollections of events not only biased but somewhat embroidered with imagination making it rather boring in parts as there are so many descriptives. After a somewhat slow start Lucie and her husband Patrick take a cruise around Japan to celebrate their wedding anniversary, during a storm Patrick falls overboard. From there on, we get only her version of what happened, along with her recollections from before and during her marriage. The book does pick up pace half way through, and I was interested in finding out the truth, but the style of writing really wasn't for me.
Thanks to The Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read in staves.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2023

This was a psychological mystery that is tense and full of dread about what is going to happen. Reading the first few chapters you get an idea about the story and back story but after that you will never have guessed what in the world is going on. When J. B and her husband go on a cruise, they have the first few days relaxing and having a good time but when a storm hits, something terrible happens to Patrick and J. B is left all alone but this is where J.B's story begins and we follow her on her journey to discover who her husband really was. It was an ok read, it pulls you in but I felt as though it didn't have me hooked, I wanted to find out what was going to happen but I didn't feel invested in the story. It could of been so good.

Fabulous storytelling

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 June 2023

What an amazing start to a book! Fabulous set up, great hook, deep characterisation. Really well written. A genuine page turner.

So much naval gazing, the story got a bit lost

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2023

This did have an interesting plot, once you got through the writing style. It was just very long winded, especially with the constant introspection over events in the main characters past, what was currently happening was lost in a stream of description and analysis. I found myself skim reading often, which was annoying.
With thanks to the author and Pigeonhole for the opportunity.

One person found this helpful

A compelling read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 March 2023

The Anniversary by Stephanie Bishop is an intriguing novel. JB and Patrick are a successful couple, she is a writer and he is a film director. While on a cruise ship Patrick gets washed out to sea, leaving JB alone as she tries to piece together what her marriage had meant to her. The book is very well written and JB is a compelling main character.

One person found this helpful

Not a lot of dialogue

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2023

I thought the story was interesting and kept you thinking, but a lot of the plot was talked around and implied rather than explained even by the end. There is also very little direct dialogue and it makes you wonder if the narrator is reliable or not. This is either extremely clever or a bit annoying and I haven't decided which it is yet. I did finish it so I did find it interesting.

I only finished by skim reading the overly lengthy descriptions

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 April 2023

Thank you to the author, publisher W&N, and online book club The Pigeonhole for the chance to read this. This is an honest and voluntary review.

Novelist J.B. Blackwood takes an anniversary cruise with her husband Patrick, a famous film director and her former university professor. When a storm strikes the ship Patrick goes overboard and J.B. is left alone in a foreign country with no support.

For the first half of the book the narrator feels disconnected and lost and this is portrayed by lengthy internalised and confused prose. Unfortunately rather than making me feel empathy for the main character it left me disconnected from her story, frustrated and bored. It really felt like someone trying to bump up their word count with lengthy paragraphs of meandering description which don’t move the story along at all.

Things get a little bit clearer in the second half where at times the plot almost feels coherent. But it still trails off into half completed thoughts and actions rather than a linear narrative.

Not for me.

Longwinded style is off putting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 April 2023

Thanks to PH for letting me read this book. Unfortunately, I found it quite challenging to read given the author’s tendency to what I found long-winding and introspective pages which distracted me from the story. I felt it lost sight of the plot and focussed too much on justifying the protagonist’s self worth. I’m sure there is something enjoyable in here for those far more intellectual than myself, but I couldn’t warm to the characters because of the writing style and, being brutally honest, was glad when this ended.

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