Fellowship Point

A Novel

By: Alice Elliott Dark

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 19 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

“A magnificent storytelling feat” (The Boston Globe) story of lifelong friendship between two very different “superbly depicted” (The Wall Street Journal) women with shared histories, divisive loyalties, hidden sorrows, and eighty years of summers on a pristine point of land on the coast of Maine, set across the arc of the 20th century.

Celebrated children’s book author Agnes Lee is determined to secure her legacy—to complete what she knows will be the final volume of her pseudonymously written Franklin Square novels; and even more consuming, to permanently protect the peninsula of majestic coast in Maine known as Fellowship Point. To donate the land to a trust, Agnes must convince shareholders to dissolve a generations-old partnership. And one of those shareholders is her best friend, Polly.

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 strives to create beauty and harmony in her home, in her friendships, and in her family. Polly soon finds her loyalties torn between the wishes of her best friend and the wishes of her three sons—but what is it that Polly wants herself?

Agnes’s designs are further muddied when an enterprising young book editor named Maud Silver sets out to convince Agnes to write her memoirs. Agnes’s resistance cannot prevent long-buried memories and secrets from coming to light with far-reaching repercussions for all.

“An ambitious and satisfying tale” (The Washington Post), Fellowship Point reads like a 19th-century epic, but it is entirely contemporary in its “reflections on aging, writing, stewardship, legacies, independence, and responsibility. At its heart, Fellowship Point is about caring for the places and people we love...This magnificent novel affirms that change and growth are possible at any age” (The Christian Science Monitor).

©2022 Alice Elliott Dark. All rights reserved. (P)2022 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Dark, a Philadelphia native who grew up spending summers in Maine, lovingly renders the New England setting and the strong, determined people without turning them into stereotypes. And Campbell, winner of multiple Audie Awards and AudioFile Earphones Awards, provides her usual strong, empathetic reading." (Alan Rosenberg)

Amazing summer read!

Great representation of lasting friendship and all the drama that goes along with owning land. Highly recommend!

Loved. Hated to see this end.

Such a beautiful story and magnificent writing. Loved every moment, emotion and word. What a special friendship.

A Story of Self Discovery and More

If you’ve wanted to leave a legacy but found that it took more than your own efforts, this book might just be for you.
It is not a fast or pithy tale, But self-discovery in your 80s takes a bit longer!
It is a story about writing, about family, and about recognizing the hypocrisy in your own family.
I loved it! Truly beautifully written!

A delightful respite

I adored being invited into the worlds of these string Quaker women and becoming a part of the fabric of their lives. A beautifully written journey!

Captivating and beautiful

The narration is perfect and the story engrossing and powerful. I already miss the characters, as I have just finished it.

THE BEST BOOK I HAVE READ IN YEARS!

From the first page to the last, I was was glued to my phone. So beautifully written, with fascinating, realistic characters, played out in beautiful Maine, and Main Line And Downtown Philadelphia. And as usual, Cassandra Campbell did not disappoint in her narration. I would recommend this book to everyone. I know I will reread it, in the near future.

Must read

This book captured me from the very beginning. The author does an amazing job of character development. The switch between past and present is obvious and not confusing. It was delightful from beginning to end.

What A Wonderful Book!

I loved this book and am so excited to be introduced to a new author. The characters are three-dimensional and the writing is beautiful. There is a big plot "reveal" at the end of the story which I was starting to predict might happen ... but I didn't need it to enjoy this story. It felt a little like the author was trying to tie up loose ends, a little forced. Other than that small criticism, this book was wonderful and I know I will listen to it again to spend more time with these characters.

Slow start but satisfying finish

Our Book Club discussed this book this week. We all agreed it started out slow but was enjoyable by the end. It led to great discussions about aging, environmentalism of long ago, relationships, etc

For late-in-lifers like myself

A view of two lives from the perspective of old age. While it is true that those lives were privileged and that very little “happened” in the book in present time, I enjoyed witnessing the characters coming to an understanding of the meaning of their lives from a contemplative distance. The one sore point for me was the narrator. I found her delivery saccharine and felt that the choice of her as narrator was a poor one because her tone came off as patronizing of her elderly protagonists.