Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Fellowship Point
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
This tour-de-force novel from an award-winning author is the triumphant story of a lifelong friendship between two singular women across the arc of the 20th century. When Agnes Lee receives her third cancer diagnosis at the age of eighty, she focuses on securing her legacy. First, as an author: though a celebrated childrens book author, she has struggled to begin what she knows will be the final volume of her popular, pseudonymously written Franklin Square series of novels. But even more consuming is her determination to find a way to permanently protect Fellowship Point, a peninsula of majestic coast in Maine acquired by five like-minded Quaker families in the 1870s. Agnes is determined to dissolve a generations-old partnership agreement in order to donate the land to a trust and thereby protect it from potential development after her death. Long used to getting her way, Agnes is confident she can convince the two surviving shareholdersher lifelong best friend Polly Wister, and her favorite nephew Archie Leeto go along with her plan. 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 exalts in creating beauty and harmony in her home, in her friendships, and in her family life. When Agnes proposes her plan for Fellowship Point, Polly finds her loyalties torn between the wishes of her best friend and those of her eldest son who is in line to be the next shareholder. But what is it that Polly herself wants? Agness designs are further muddied when an enterprising young book editor named Maud Silver sets out to convince Agnes to write her memoirs. Agness resistance cannot prevent long-buried memories and secrets from coming to light with far-reaching repercussions for all. Fellowship Point reads like a classic 19th-century novel in its beautifully woven, multilayered narrative and it is entirely contemporary in the themes it explores: a deep and empathic interest in womens lives, the class differences that divide us, the struggle to protect the natural world, and, above all, a reckoning with intimacy, history, and posterity. It is a masterful achievement from Alice Elliott Dark.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
blurb
LeslieO
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
post image

Finished the tagged book and loved it. Now on to the rest! #BookSpinBingo

review
AvidReader25
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
post image
Pickpick

Spanning decades this is the story of Agnus & Polly‘s friendship. Through the ebb & flow of life‘s biggest moments & smallest routines we see them lean on each other & deal w/the realities of aging & exploring the idea of who really knows us. Nothing much seems to happen, but all of life is packed into this book.

“Polly thought the lack of concern for her appearance helped Agnus be certain in other ways. Prettiness is a distraction for everyone.”

AvidReader25 I do feel like quite a bit could have been edited out. I was also disappointed by an unbelievable twist (Heidi‘s identity) at the end. I think this is a story that will stick with me and it reminded me of Crossing to Safety. I also love that the author created very complicated women who are not just one simple thing. 10mo
kspenmoll I have this to read over the summer! 10mo
swishandflick Gorgeous reading spot! 10mo
AvidReader25 @swishandflick It‘s on the coast of Maine! That‘s where the book is set, so it was perfect! 10mo
AvidReader25 @kspenmoll I‘d recommend reading it when you‘re in the mood for something slower. 😊 10mo
32 likes1 stack add5 comments
review
brushlo
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
post image
Pickpick

amoung top books of 2023! so well written. explores key themes about family, friendship and feminism. a must read!

SamAnne I‘ve been trying to get to this one! 10mo
5 likes1 comment
blurb
LeslieO
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
post image

Correction to my #BookSpinBingo list for July. Realized I had two books listed twice! 😳😜

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 10mo
26 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
ProudBookNerd
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
post image
Panpan

I just couldn't get into this one at all. While the writing is lovely, there are just so many uneeded sections that didn't really seem to contribute to the overall story and made it really long winded, wandering in a way, personally, could not keep me engaged. I would have loved more of Agnes, the independent, salty writer and her new young editor and maybe it's there but I was almost 40 % of the way through and wasn't compelled to keep going.

review
cdreincarnate
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
post image
Pickpick

I‘m going to have to sit with this book for a while before I can decide how I feel about it, but on the whole, I think I really liked it. The writing is beautiful and I really enjoyed hanging out with these characters.

SamAnne Has been on my TBR since it came out. Thanks for the review! 1y
cdreincarnate @SamAnne Happy to help. If you‘re into audiobooks, I recommend this one. The narrator does a great job. 1y
6 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Bookboss
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
post image
Pickpick

I haven‘t been able to stop thinking of this book, and I finished it weeks ago. The language, characters, and setting are beautifully constructed. All of the small moments that make up a marriage or a friendship add up to complex relationships. The book is long and slow-paced, but it is rich and layered. The story of two life long friends approaching the end of life may sound sad, but it is so worthwhile.

44 likes1 stack add
review
janeycanuck
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
post image
Mehso-so

This had too much going on in it... While all of the various stories were interesting, I was just overwhelmed with everything that was going on. For me, the best storyline was Agnes and her writing career - I would have really loved to focus on just that.

32 likes1 stack add
review
Hooked_on_books
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
post image
Mehso-so

I really wanted to love this one but I just can‘t. There are some wonderful things—an elderly main character (who is fabulous), a focus on a long-standing friendship, an exploration of women‘s opportunities. But, ultimately, there are too many storylines and not enough editing. By the end, I just didn‘t care anymore.

squirrelbrain That‘s a shame - I liked the sound of this one. 2y
42 likes2 stack adds1 comment
blurb
jlhammar
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
post image

Tuesday #bookmail! I have very high hopes for this new release. I guess it is supposed to read more like a classic nineteenth-century novel which sounds wonderful to me. Plus, Ann Patchett raved about it on last week‘s The Laydown Diaries!

33 likes1 stack add
review
LeafingThroughLife
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
post image
Pickpick

Agnes and Polly‘s Maine comes to life, providing a setting rife with memories for the pair of octogenarians to reflect upon. I loved the unique perspective of women who refuse to be pushed aside, even though everyone is trying to minimize them as they age. Unveiling Agnes‘s secrets provides momentum, but the highlight here is the thoughtful depiction of a lifelong friendship between women who know each other better than they know themselves.

review
Cinfhen
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
post image
Mehso-so

Thanks to the people at @SimonSchuster @simonbooks for gifting me a review copy of Fellowship Point. As part of the #SSBookclub I offer my unbiased opinion.Though this story is set in the early 21 century and some parts in the 1960‘s the author‘s prose felt very old fashioned. A long winded story of two women, now in their late 80‘s raised in white privileged Philadelphia & Maine. Polly & Agnes are best friends who carry each other‘s secrets. 👇🏼

Cinfhen Agnes an author, who is experiencing writer‘s block is contacted to pen her memoir by a young NYC editor‘s assistant. When Agnes begins a correspondence with the assistant old memories of her friendship with Polly are re-examined. This is a quiet novel which requires a lot of patience but does provide some lovely surprises. (edited) 2y
Megabooks Long winded isn‘t exactly selling me… 2y
BarbaraBB @Megabooks 🤣 And what to think about “requires a lot of patience”? 2y
See All 10 Comments
Cinfhen 🙄😬 @BarbaraBB @Megabooks at almost 600 pages this book didn‘t really pay off for me. #MoreMehThanYeah 2y
Megabooks Yikes! It doesn‘t sound like a plot that could carry 600 pages!! 😬😬 @BarbaraBB 2y
Cinfhen No, they threw another whole subplot about their summer homes on Fellowship Point in Maine but it was just hundreds of pages of filler @Megabooks 2y
BarbaraBB Kudos for finishing it Cindy! 2y
BarbaraBB I started this one by the way, based on your recommendation 2y
Cinfhen It was such an empowering story!! Im LOVING my African books!!!! @BarbaraBB 2y
BarbaraBB Me too. And I‘m learning so much! 2y
69 likes1 stack add10 comments
blurb
Cinfhen
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
post image

Goal today is to finish this book before April 1 and #ThingsInCommon begin 😁

LeafingThroughLife Loved this one! 2y
Cinfhen That‘s good to know @LeafingThroughLife 🙌🏻It‘s a bit of a slough for me 2y
59 likes2 comments
blurb
Cinfhen
Fellowship Point: A Novel | Alice Elliott Dark
post image

Moody Reader stack 2! Trying to find my next read….Tagged book is an #ARC from the wonderful people @SimonSchuster @simonbooks #SandSBookClubFavorites

rubyslippersreads The tagged book sounds intriguing. 2y
Centique I really liked Malabar Hill but I don‘t know if it‘s a Cindy book or not 🤷🏻‍♀️ Do you like mysteries that haven‘t got that thriller aspect? The setting and the protagonist‘s background is very good though 💕 2y
Cinfhen MH is for my bookclub @Centique so I‘ll need to pick it up soon!! But I did start the tagged book @rubyslippersreads and so far it‘s engaging. I‘ll keep you both posted 😁 2y
65 likes3 comments