"Bargain, theft, or gift," inquires this generational novel about one family's relationship to their summer
sanctuary - Ashaunt Point.
It is 1942. Bea is again accompanying the Porters to the
Point as their nanny. Although her main responsibility is eight-year-old Janie,
she keeps on eye on the teen-aged Helen and Dossy since "the place
was filled with men and boys" stationed there by the army. Later in the
summer, Bea herself turns down a proposal from one of the soldiers but will
always wonder what she gave up in the bargain.
For Helen, the Point offers timelessness. "I would like
to stay just where I am or go backwards," she writes in her diary of 1961.
Spending time in her garden and swimming with her children distract her from
her fears about her pregnancy and not finishing the degree she has just begun.
What will this next child take from her? Or will he be a gift?
For Helen's oldest son Charlie, the Point offers shelter
after he drops out of college in 1970. Short of funds, he feels justified taking
food from vacant summer homes. "Stolen? Gifted? Doors were open. Help
yourself," he thinks. However, his plan to live off the land is short-lived
when developers arrive with bulldozers.
Finally, it is 1999. Bea has made a home for herself in Scotland and does not return to the Point. Helen returns between chemo
sessions and finds beauty in the family land that has been preserved. Charlie and his wife
also return to visit. Coping with the stress of trying to conceive, they find distraction in digging up the bones of a porpoise
Charlie buried years before. "Together they dig, then, the sun on their
back, Ashaunt quiet…" And they imagine that someday their daughter will be "a lover of plants and flowers, a worrier with perfect pitch."
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