The Anniversary

By: Stephanie Bishop

Narrated by: Fiona Hampton

For fans of Lisa Halliday and Susan Choi, The Anniversary is a simmering, compelling story about an ascendant writer, the unresolved death of her husband, and what it takes to emerge on her own

Novelist J.B. Blackwood is on a cruise with her husband, Patrick, to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Her former professor, film director, and cult figure, Patrick is much older than J.B. When they met, he seemed somehow ageless, as all gods appear in the eyes of those who worship them. 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, nothing but dark water all around them. Then a storm hits, and Patrick falls from the ship. J.B. is left alone, as the search for what happened to Patrick-and the truth about their marriage-begins.

Propulsive and fiercely intelligent, The Anniversary is exquisitely written with a swift and addictive plot. It's a novel that asks: how legible, in the mind of the writer, is the line between reality and plot? How do we refuse the people we desire? And what is the cost, to ourselves, to others and to our art, if we don't?

©2023 Stephanie Bishop (P)2023 Tantor

Word salad with interminable digressions

Good reader; story that never decided what it wanted to say. Depressing main character who was exhausting and tedious to listen to.

Can’t finish

I was intrigued for about an hour, but since then, nothing has happened. A lot do references to water, so much so that it feels clumsy and obvious. The narration is monotone and lacking. Unfortunately won’t be able to finish this one.

Lovely writing…..

I was tired of this heroine’s total lack of self awareness, her poor choices and her total inability to deal with the consequences by the fifth chapter. The author goes on and on (in beautifully written sentences) until I lost the significance of what she was trying to say. I felt I had wasted my time.

Some real strengths; ultimatelyh unsatisfying.

This character-driven crime novel / mystery had some real strengths but for me, was ultimately unsatisfying. The settings, from storm-tossed cruise ship to Australian suburb to Japanese coastal city police station, keep the reader's interest. The layers of understanding about the couple's marriage is told through flash backs and fuzzy moments in the present, so the mystery keeps our attention. The end, though, was tough. The author took a big leap at the end that didn't bring me along.

The book reminded me of The Wife by Meg Wolitzer, but updated for a new generation where women can actually have successful careers in the shadow of a successful husband. I thought Wolitzer did it better.

Precise and cinematic.

I might not have finished this if I had read it. The narration held me to the elegance of the language. A disappointment of an ending but to be expected.

Minimal plot

More internal dialogue than actual plot. Didn’t really go anywhere and then completely changed directions in the last chapter, creating a whole new meaning of life for the character, even though she still only cares about writing…not great.

Oh my the boredom

The book interested me for an hour. Then it wandered around through unnecessarily long descriptions of “passion” that I forwarded through. Another 30 mins and I thought I’d stumbled into the plotless soft porn section. Do not bother with this one.

Truly, Deeply

I was totally sucked in by Bishop’s seductive language, enhanced by the outstanding reader. The story is also so compelling- with the many moods and locations and occasional characters.

VERY long descriptions

i did not like the details of every single thing (the whiteness of a person's hand, a tree). The book just dragged on and on. It was a short story made into a book by descriptions of every little insignificant thing.