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Fortune's Rocks
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Plot Summary of Fortune's Rocks
"A young girl has an affair with a married man and becomes pregnant. She is forced to give up her child. She tries to find the identity of her little boy without her parents' permission."
Heather, Resident Scholar

"At the turn of the century an affluent young woman falls in love and has an affair with a much older married man. They are discovered causing much heartache and exile for both. She subsequently bears a child who is taken from her at birth. Book continues with how the woman grows and adapts to what life has dealt her."
Barbara Ashworth, Resident Scholar

"In Fortune's Rocks, 15 year old Olympia Biddeford travels with her wealthy family to stay on Fortune's Rocks, a seawall in Boston. It is there, that she meets John Haskell, a well-known doctor and writer. John Haskell is 42 years of age, and married with a family. Yet he and Olympia cannot help themselves as they carry on a secret affair with one another.

Eventually as this story moves on, they become discovered and each must face painful consequences as a result of their romance together. "

Boppy, Resident Scholar

"In 1899, Olympia is a 15 year old girl vacationing with her parents at their summer home in Fortune's Rocks, New Hampshire. Her family is well-to-do and her very protective father assumes personal responsibility for her education. Rather than let her go to school with other kids, Olympia's father assigns books for her to read and they discuss them together at home. At their summer home, her parents entertain a number of distinguished guests. Early in the summer, Olympia's father invites Dr. John Haskell to dinner. Haskell is there to help the poor factory workers of nearby Ely Falls. He is 41 and married to a beautiful and admirable woman. She visits him on the weekends with their four children, who range from 3 to 12 years of age.

Immediately after they meet, Olympia and Haskell become obsessed with each other. They have an affair that summer, but it all comes to a terrible and dramatic end in August at a gala that Olympia's parents are holding at their house in honor of her 16th birthday.

In the aftermath of the break up, Olympia's parents whisk her back to their house in Boston, and she has no communication with Haskell. She soon learns that she is pregnant with his child. Her father insists that she give up the baby when it is born and forces her to attend a teacher's college. Olympia does as her father demands, but 3 years into her education at the college, she runs away and moves back into the house at Fortune's Rocks. By now, her father has forgiven her and feels remorse for how harshly he had treated her. She learns that her son was brought to the orphanage at Ely Falls, and hopes to get him back. She learns that he was given to foster parents and they are basically raising him like a son, but without having legally adopting him.

There is a big custody battle, at the end of which, Haskell reappears."

Jessica, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Fortune's Rocks
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - 19th century
Romance/Romance Problems Yes
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Pregnancy/Child rearing Yes
Major part of story: - giving up children - custody fight
Lover is - much younger/older

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - student
Age: - a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - doctor
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an above average amount
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 6 ()
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast
Misc setting - resort/hotel

Style
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - touching of anatomy - impregnation/reproduction - actual description of hetero sex
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to Fortune's Rocks
The Diary Of Ellen Rimbauer by Joyce Reardon
Pemberley or Pride and Prejudice Continued by Emma Tennant
The Reckoning by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
The Immoralist by Andre Gide
Widow of the South by Robert Hicks


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Anita Shreve Resident Scholar Profiles

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