title: Body Surfing: A Novel
author:  Anita Shreve 
description: Anita Shreve is the critically acclaimed author of twelve books, including <em>The Pilot's Wife</em>, which was a selection of Oprah's Book Club, and <em>The Weight of Water</em>, which was a finalist for England's Orange prize. She lives in Massachusetts.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Body Surfing (2007)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Anita Shreve
  
  
  *
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  At the age of 29, Sydney has already been once divorced and once widowed.
  Trying to regain her footing once again, she has answered an ad to tutor the
  teenage daughter of a well-to-do couple as they spend a sultry summer in their
  oceanfront New Hampshire cottage. But when the Edwards' two grown sons, Ben
  and Jeff, arrive at the beach house, Sydney finds herself caught up in a
  destructive web of old tensions and bitter divisions. As the brothers vie for
  her affections, the fragile existence Sydney has rebuilt for herself is
  threatened.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 2002
  
  
  Three o'clock, the dead hour. The faint irritation of sand grit between bare
  foot and floorboards. Wet towels hanging from bedposts and porch railings. A
  door, caught in a gust, slams, and someone near it emits the expected cry of
  surprise. A southwest wind, not the norm even in August, sends stifling air
  into the many rooms of the old summerhouse. The hope is for an 