Anita Shreve Books

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Anita Shreve was a bestselling American author that wrote Romance and General Fiction. Born in 1946 in Boston, Massachusetts to a Delta Airlines Pilot (Richard Harold Shreve) and a homemaker (Bibiana Kennedy), Shreve attended Tufts University.

She started writing after leaving her teaching post at Reading Memorial High School. She was married to Clay Wescott at the time, her second husband – the first was Jack Christensen.

They both taught at Reading Memorial High School. The couple spent some time in Kenya while Wescott pursued his Ph.D. By the time they returned to the United States, years later, their marriage had ended.

But Shreve’s time in Kenya left a mark on her. Besides the work she did as the Viva Magazine editor, the author also climbed Mount Kenya with her husband and two friends (Mary and Richard), an adventure that nearly took a tragic turn when an accident almost sent Mary off the edge of the mountain.

Fortunately, a guide caught her. Shreve fictionalized the account in one of her books. It was not the only adventure that inspired her novels. Once she returned to the US, Shreve found work as a freelance journalist. She was still writing fiction at the time.

Though, her career only took off when Oprah Winfrey selected ‘The Pilot’s Wife’, one of Shreve’s most popular novels, for her book club. The exposure turned the author into a celebrity.

Her book became a hit, selling millions of copies in the years that followed. The eldest of three children, all daughters, when Shreve was growing up, she was influenced by authors like Ethan Frome, Eugene O’Neil, and Edith Wharton.

She had been teaching high school for several when she decided to abandon her job to write novels. At the time, the decision made sense. Shreve remembers panicking, almost like she was running out of time, and if she did not start pursuing her writing dreams there and then, she would never do it.

Later on, when she became a parent, the notion of abandoning a paying job to write fiction sounded absurd. But at the time, it felt right. The many rejections she received soon after shook her confidence.

The magazines she queried had no interest in her stories. But even after publishing an award-winning story, Anita Shreve was forced to accept that she couldn’t survive financially on short stories.

This realization pushed her to experiment with journalism. After living in Kenya for three years and finally returning to the US, the author worked for various magazines as a writer and editor.

It wasn’t until 1989 that she published her first novel. She kept writing until, years later, Oprah Winfrey gave her career the bump it needed to elevate her status in the publishing arena. Shreve died from cancer in 2018 at the age of 71.

Anita Shreve Awards

She won the O. Henry Prize for ‘Past the Island Drifting’. Shreve also received nominations for Baileys Women’s Prizes.

Anita Shreve Books into Movies

‘The Weight of Water’ became a mystery thriller of the same name starring Sean Penn and Elizabeth Hurley in 2000.

‘Resistance’ became a WW2 film of the same name in 2003. It starred Bill Paxon and Julia Ormond.
‘The Pilot’s Wife’ became a CBS TV movie in 2002.

Best Anita Shreve Books

The author’s novels have a reputation for exploring doomed romance. Shreve’s best books include:

The Pilot’s Wife: Kathryn Lyons’ life took a tragic turn when the plane her husband was flying crashed. She couldn’t grieve because Jack had a secret life, one that had drawn the attention of the public.

As her life imploded, she began to investigate the man she loved, trying to understand the reasons that had compelled him to lie to her.

The Stars Are Fire: Grace Holland was five months pregnant when the fires came. They had devasted the Maine Coast. Her husband had abandoned his family to join the firefighters. Before long, Grace, her best friend Rosie, and their children were forced to watch as their homes were reduced to ash.

But the fires were far from done. The group had to flee into the ocean to survive. Suddenly homeless and seemingly helpless, Grace and Rosie are fighting to keep their children alive even as they await news of the fate that befell their husbands.

When Does The Next Anita Shreve book come out?

Anita Shreve doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is The Stars Are Fire and was released on April, 18th 2017.

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