This is the first of David Payne's that I read.
He's awesome.
The book is engrossing.
I'm sure I will read more of David Payne in the future.

The story centers on the life of the people on an isolated coastal village called Little Roanoke. Payne does a good job describing life in the village, its culture, its idiosyncracies, the fierce way it holds on to its beliefs, its charm, its hypocrisy.

love this part:
"When he looked, that was what he saw: simplicity and character, old folkways, seafaring traditions dating back to Devonshire in Walter Raleigh's time; Joe saw the villagers' originality and ferocious independence, their unwavering certainty as to who they are. When I looked, I saw patriarchialism, religious dogma, bigotry toward blacks and women. Our difference as lovers and as human beings somehow boiled downto our different views about this town, ending where it had begun: with Cleopatra Ames."

Loved David Payne's first book, "Early From the Dance."

This book, not so much. I bought it as soon as I finished "Early" and was disappointed. So much so that I haven't bought his subsequent books.

I struggled a bit with the verbiage at the start, until the story drew me in. It's an interesting story in an intriguing setting. There are a few preachy sections about some controversial issues. T'was okay.

Loved this book. Beautiful story, beautifully written.

A pretty good read, if a bit predictable. It was interesting, fast-paced, and had some good regional cultural insights.

I got this because we were taking a trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where it's set. I got caught up in the plot after a while but really didn't like the writing.

Another great David Payne novel. "Early From The Dance" covers growing up and this is about getting ready to finally be at least semi-mature. Awesome book.

Great author with a memorable writing style.

I did enjoy this book. One, because I am a romantic at heart and liked the ending. It is a work that explores a great number of different issues. It wrestles with the conflict of tradition and progress; religion and doubt, family dynamics and sexual abuse. It has as a major component the great question of what it means to be human and how does a person honor her own life by making commitments. There were lots of parts about fishing on a boat that I have no clue what he said and whether it was valid or not. In fact I skimmed over much of the great chaos of the hurricane on the boat as I did not know what all they were doing or struggling with. I just knew the hurricane was tossing the craft about and creating great danger. There is a great tread of family chaos and the long term pain and destruction caused by people who stay together for the sake of the children.

A very engaging story that keeps you on the edge of your seat at the end of the book.

Set in a fishng village near Roanoke. A young man returns to work on his thesis. He signs on to a fishing boat and endures a savage storm at sea. He also falls in love withe feminist doctor and has a passionate affair only to find that her ideals are at odds with those of the conservative villageandr his own..

I quit. Too dirty, wordy and slow. The reason it gets two stars instead of one is because the author can write.