Synopses & Reviews
“Coburn's beautifully realized second novel is a perceptive assessment of what women do in love. A richly conceived portrait of memory and identity.”—
Kirkus ReviewsIn this accomplished and dazzlingly written new novel, Randy Sue Coburn brings to life with tremendous heart, humor, and wisdom the Pacific Northwest enclave of Owl Island and its many unforgettable inhabitants. Among the aromatic cedars and lush firs, close to where Chinook salmon maneuver the choppy waters, Phoebe Allen has lived quietly and self-sufficiently for twenty years, raising her daughter, Laurienne, and running a small fishing-net business. But Phoebe’s past suddenly washes up on the shores of Owl Island: Renowned independent film director Whitney Traynor buys a house nearby on Spit in the Wind Road, forcing Phoebe to pry open the lid she’s kept clamped on her secrets and scars, plunging her ordered existence into chaos.
Whit was charismatic enough to “charm the ice off a dog dish” when Phoebe first fell in love with him as a voice on the radio, and he has not lost his touch–or his propensity to stir things up without even trying. Phoebe, Laurienne, and everyone else living on Owl Island are affected by his arrival. And Phoebe’s newfound intimacy with Ivan, a longtime friend and neighbor, far from offering escape, only further complicates matters. Memories of Whit transport Phoebe to a time long ago–one of innocence and awakening, passion and purpose, euphoria and regret–before their intense relationship came to an acrimonious end.
All these years, Phoebe has concealed truths from her daughter and may now be forced to divulge them. As the past rushes toward the present like an inevitable tide, Phoebe must also confront the early loss of her mother, whose own mysteries are at last beginning to surface.
A deeply affecting portrait of mothers and lovers, daughters and forgiveness, Owl Island reveals the damaging power of secrets, the importance of community, and the liberating lessons of love.
Review
Coburn's beautifully realized second novel is a perceptive assessment of what women do in love.
Beautiful, strong-willed Phoebe, owner of a fish-net company, lives an agreeable life on a Puget Sound island. Her daughter Laurienne works in Seattle writing computer code, and artist Ivan, long-time friend, now lover, lives a few houses down the road. A satisfying existence, but over the course of the novel, Phoebe begins to realize hers has been a guarded life since her affair with Whit Traynor decades ago. And the reason for this fresh evaluation: A new neighbor has moved
in, the now-famous director Whitney Traynor, with young wife Jasmine in tow. His appearance sends Phoebe reeling back to her enshrined memories of their relationship, the watershed moment of Phoebe's life. As a precocious teenager in 1960s Seattle, Phoebe became entranced by a local radio deejay, the charismatic Whit, who seemed to be speaking directly to Phoebe. She wrote him smart, seductive letters, filled with whimsy and innuendo, and he replied in turn, the two never
meeting until Phoebe turned 18. Phoebe proudly worked on Whit's first feature film (suitably about artist's muse Kiki de Montparnasse), and while he credits Phoebe for inspiration, she did much of the work. When the two split up-a messy affair of cheating and rebound romances-Phoebe is pregnant and unsure if Whit is the father.
Coburn smartly reveals only the Whit that young Phoebe sees-stylish, brilliantly idiosyncratic and in love. Not until later does middle-aged Phoebe (and the reader) perceive an altogether different Whit, unprotected by the flush of youth.
Now Phoebe guardedly hopes that Whit is still in love with her. Why would he move to the island? Why would he call Jasmine a replacement Phoebe? And who else but Whit could have sent her all those magical gifts-a handful of rubies, a hummingbird's nest-through the years? This sad fantasy of true love reunited soon gives way to Phoebe gaining some hard-earned insight about her own willingness to
hide in someone's shadow.
A richly conceived portrait of memory and identity.
Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
Among the towering firs and windswept beaches of a Pacific Northwest Island, a woman's long-ago first love unexpectedly returns, teaching her the damaging power of secrets and the liberating lessons of love.
About the Author
Randy Sue Coburn is a former newspaper reporter whose articles and essays have been published in numerous national magazines. She is the author of Remembering Jody, a first novel hailed by Booklist as “a wry and compassionate emotional roller coaster from a master storyteller,” and her screenplays include Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, the critically acclaimed Cannes Film Festival selection that received five Independent Spirit Award nominations, including Best Screenplay. She lives in Seattle and teaches writing at the University of Washington.