Shine On, Bright and Dangerous Object

The title of this gorgeously written novel at first appears to be the narrator’s husband, Sam, who after a lifetime of taking every risk that he can, dies in a boating accident, leaving the young Elizabeth widowed. “He seemed to me like some bright, dangerous object on a darkened road that you go toward… beautiful and frightening,” she says in one of many introspective passages.

Indeed, the first half of the novel is an extended meditation on his character and on this marriage that ended too soon. Or did it? Sam’s brother, Patrick, says that her husband’s death meant that their inevitable divorce would never need to happen now. But he’s hardly a disinterested party, and the two of them are brought closer by their mutual grief.

Slowly, Elizabeth gains new insights into herself and into the meaning of love, which is the ultimate dangerous, shining object to which she is drawn, again and again. This book is a stellar example of character development, and one that I recommend wholeheartedly.