Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Anny Butler is a caretaker, first for her own brothers and sisters, and then as a director of an agency devoted to the welfare of children. What she has never had is a real family. That changed when she met and married Lewis Aiken, an exuberant surgeon fifteen years older than Anny. When they marry, she finds her family -- a group of Charleston childhood friends who are inseparable, who are one another's surrogate family. They are called the Scrubs, andthey all, in some way, have the common cord of family. Upon meeting them at the old beach house on Sullivans Island, which they co-own, Anny knows that she has found a home. They vow, when the time comes, to find a place where they can live together by the sea.

When bad things begin to happen -- a hurricane, a fire -- the remaining Scrubs cling together. They are watched over and bolstered by Camilla Curry, the heart and core of their group. Annyherself allows Camilla to enfold and to care for her. It is the first time she has felt this kind of love and support. They move to a newisland retreat, the beginning of their long-awaited life together, andAnny must learn that some loves carry a secret and terrible price.

Average Customer Rating:

Pure Torture	Customer Rating:
I have read this author before, but this book was pure torture to read. It was excruciatingly boring, with little plot. The main character, Anny, was sickeningly sweet and naive. The only good thing I got from the story was the friendship of the couples, but even that was shallow. YUCK.

Not her best work!

Customer Rating:

I usually love Siddons books. I was excited to find one that I had not read yet at the airport a few weeks ago. This book had me either crying or stumped the whole read. The character development was good to a point. But, i agree with a previous poster that says how unrealistic it was for the doctor to own so many houses. Yet, they never set up a home. The 'evil' character by the end of the book had me wondering where that idea came from. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who has not read it. I found the plot turn with the fire to be too much. Not one of her best books. I had liked it up until the point where a dog goes missing and a fire is started.

Yawn........

Customer Rating:

If I hadn't been reading this for our bookclub, I would have never finished this drawn out story. This book drifted endlessly with no apparent plot into the lives of a clicky group of rich upper-class couples who happened to have associations with the medical community. These couples were, in their own way, very snotty, uppidity, and definately set apart from the average citizen. They called themselves "The scrubs," and shared a beachhouse on one of the islands near Charleston, NC. Happines and tragidy did befall these couples. With each event page after page of boring recovery left me feeling "All right, all ready, lets get on with the story!" I gave it a 3 only because the author was able to give the reader insight into the beauty of the area: however, she could have said it in 1/2 the pages. Don't waste your time or money on this one. This was one of the most borning and slow moving books I have ever read, and was extremely disapointed. There was no action or plot until the last 10 pages of the book!!!

Slow Starting	Customer Rating:
I'd been wanting to try Siddons, but maybe I choose the wrong book. I've started and finished 3 other books while trying to get going on this one. After 83 pages, I'm going to give it up and try another of her books. It just feels like the characters are drifting. The descriptions setting the scene appeals, but Anny Butler seems so low-key that she is almost a nonentity.

Excellent reading!

Customer Rating:

Following the lives of a close-knit group of friends as they move from middle to old age is highly appealing, and makes me wish I had a wonderfully supportive clique like this to grow old together with. Although full of death and loss, the story was beautfully tragic and quite life-affirming, however it was more sad than uplifting. Anne Rivers Siddons has a unique style of writing that is very enjoyable to read, no matter what story she is telling, and I have a special fondness for books set in the scenic Carolina low country!