FELLOWSHIP POINT
by Alice Elliott Dark
How very fitting that this gorgeous novel about a lifelong friendship between two women should be recommended to me by my very dear friend, Pam. The story begins when Agnes Lee and Polly Wister are in their 80s and navigating a new phase of their friendship at their summer homes on Fellowship Point, Maine. Agnes, a famous author who has never married, has plans to donate her land on her beloved peninsula in Maine as a trust, to ensure that it will remain unspoiled after she dies. In order to do that, she must convince the other shareholders on the Point to agree to her plan. But Polly, a recent widow with grown children who have their own ideas about developing the land, finds herself in a real quandary about where her loyalties lie.
Alice Dark deftly lays out Agnes’ and Polly’s immediate dilemma, while interspersing chapters about Agnes’ and Polly’s lives as children, adolescents and young adults. The reader comes to realize what this magical place means to each of them and to their friendship. Dark also includes additional story threads – most notably that of Maud Silver, a young, resourceful editorial assistant who is determined to convince Agnes to write her memoir.
Fellowship Point is one of those books that you’ll find yourself reading slower and slower as you come to the end because you don’t want it to be over. Agnes and Polly – and Maud – will feel like friends that you just don’t want to leave behind. I recommend this book as another great story of friendship between two women – something all too rare in literature today, but present in both of my recommendations this month. (Liz)
