Osprey Island

From Publishers Weekly After a story collection about the dilemmas of individuals (_Out of the Girls Room and into the Night_) and a debut novel about the difficulties of a modern family (_The Good People of New York_), Nissen ambitiously takes on the weblike interrelations of an entire community—with imperfect success. The Lodge at Osprey Island has been around so long that, by 1988, the lives of entire families are linked to the resort, including that of alcoholic Lance Squire, whose wife dies suddenly in a fire after falling asleep with a burning cigarette. Havoc soon follows, as Lance becomes increasingly violent and the desire to protect his eight-year-old son, Squee, from abuse unifies the island's population, sparks a romance between the resort owner's daughter, Suzy Chizek, and maintenance worker Roddy Jacobs, and forces the revelation of old affairs, abortions, rape and draft dodging. Nissen's sharp snapshots of family dynamics and her frank depiction of sexuality are affecting, and her novel offers many fine, insightful moments. But the love story, pushed along by frequently adolescent dialogue, never becomes entirely convincing, and the book's plotting is labored, driven by the calculated disclosure of a host of dark secrets. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Run-down resorts on sparsely populated islands are seldom settings for cheerful tales, and, sure enough, "It was not a good season for the Lodge at Osprey Island." The owners still mourn the death of their son in Vietnam; their wayward daughter has come home, lured by the promise of free board and babysitting for her young daughter, but resenting every moment she spends there; and the caretakers, a couple perpetually too drunk and wretched to perform even the most basic of their duties, are equally unable to raise their precocious eight-year-old son. When one of the caretakers passes out in the laundry room, cigarette in hand, and dies in the ensuing fire, a fight over who can best look after the boy brings the small community's few remaining secrets into the open, with predictably miserable consequences for all. Nissen's characters are not quite clich?s, but they always act according to their well-defined types, leaving us saddened but never surprised. Copyright © 2005

from The Author Of the Good People Of New York ("fabulous . . . Wonderfully Satisfying . . . This Is A Voice I'd Follow Anywhere" --elinor Lipman), A Book About Summer, That Most Incandescent And Evanescent Season -- About Lazy Days, Fleeting Love, And Tempers That Flare In The Heat.

very Few People Ever Leave The Tight-knit Community Of Year-rounders On Osprey Island, And Fewer Yet Come Back. Suzy Chizek Does, Though, With Her Young Daughter In Tow; A Single Mother, She Comes Home In The Summer Of 1988 To Help Her Father Run His Hotel, The Lodge. Roddy Jacobs Returns To Work At The Lodge, Too, After A Mysterious Period Of Drifting In The Wake Of The Vietnam War. Separated Since High School, Suzy And Roddy Cannot Help But Come Together, Unsure Whether They Are In Love Or Simply Using Each Other, And The Island, As An Escape From The Pressures And Disappointments Of Mainland Life.

just Before The Start Of The Season, The Lodge's Troubled Housekeeper Dies In A Suspicious Fire, Shattering The Island's Equilibrium. Lorna Had Protected Her Young Son, Affectionately Nicknamed Squee, From The Rages Of Her Alcoholic Husband, Lance. When Squee, In His Grief And Panic, Runs Away From Both His Father's Ramshackle Home And His Grandparents, He Seeks Out Roddy And Suzy, Whom He Implicitly Trusts, Bringing The Tentative Lovers Into Conflict With Volatile Lance. Roddy's Mother, The Controversial And Independent Eden, Seems To Know More Island Secrets Than Anyone. She Loves Squee With Motherly Intensity, But Her Righteous Defense Of Him May Prove More Dangerous Than Helpful.

can The Community Save Squee From His Father, The Very Person Who Is Meant To Take Careof Him? Can A Town That Is Fueled By Secrets Expose Itself To Responsibility? Is It Brave Or Foolish To Leave The Familiarity Of Osprey Island?

in The Uniquely Ephemeral Atmosphere Of A Summer Resort, Thisbe Nissen Unfolds An Ever-deepening Story Of Ancient Loyalties And Betrayals, While Showcasing The Qualities That Readers Have Come To Expect From Her: Exuberant Wit, Fierce Intelligence, And Unforgettable Warmth And Compassion. An Ambitious, Richly Satisfying Novel Of Indelible Power And Beauty.

the Washington Post - Susan Adams

nissen Handles A Complicated Plot With Skill And Paints An Especially Poignant Picture Of What It Means To Go Home Again … By The End Of The Book, Some Of Osprey's Most Painful Wounds Are Lanced, And, In The Process, A Modicum Of Justice Is Done. It's Eye-opening For The Summer Workers At The Lodge, Revealing For The Islanders And A Treat For The Reader.

As summer begins on Osprey Island, preparations at the Lodge -- the island's one and only hotel — are underway for the busy season. On maintenance and housekeeping there's Lance and Lorna Squire, Osprey locals and raging drinkers; and their irrepressible son Squee. There are college boys to wait tables and Irish girls to clean rooms. And a few unusual returnees, too: Suzy Chizek, single mom and daughter of the Lodge's owners, who's looking for a parentally funded vacation; and Roddy Jacobs, another former local, who has come back after a mysterious twenty-year absence. But when tragedy strikes, dark secrets explode, dividing the island community over the fate of a young boy suddenly more vulnerable to his violent father than ever. In the uniquely ephemeral atmosphere of a summer resort, Thisbe Nissen unfolds, with charecteristic warmth and charm, an ever-deepening story of lost loves and found romance, of loyalties and betrayals; and of lingering–sometimes fleeting–joy.