Rescue by Anita Shreve

** spoiler alert **
This was a book by an author I have heard a lot of wonderful things about however this particular book had mixed reviews.  That being said, I was a little mixed myself.  I enjoyed the EMT portions of the main character's thought processes in rescue situations. I don't think I could ever do that sort of job.  At the same time, I didn't view Webster as a strong character, or even as someone I would like in real life.   He allowed this woman, Sheila, to pretty much do whatever she wanted to and turned a blind eye from the get-go.  Part of it, I'm sure is that I've never experienced a pull so strong to someone that I did not know that would cause me to basically stalk them and then have sex with them on the second time we met...unprotected.   Granted I don't need to actually go through everything in a book to relate or understand, but maybe because it's a situation I would NEVER want to be in, it was a little bit of a turn off.  I don't believe in promiscuous sex, etc. 
Fast forward to after they were married, I understand, definitely, that there are the things we do for love, but to me, I feel like there was more he could have done in the process of helping Sheila with her problem and he just kind of took it all in stride.  Everything was so calculated and less emotional. Perhaps dealing with those awful rescue situations made him deal with EVERY situation as a "process" but by doing so, you get a feeling of disconnect with the character, making him harder to relate to.  It's like he was just saying how much he loved her, not necessarily feeling it.
Sheila was a typical alcoholic, in every sense of the word, and in her case, could not be helped until she helped herself. If I were Webster, after sending her away, I would have followed up with her sooner than when Rowan was 18. I mean, it was clear that she was a fantastic mother when she was sober.  Then again, I don't know what I would do in a situation like this.
I think the writing was great, so that wasn't a problem. I just couldn't relate to the characters as much as I would have liked to, which makes me sad.

Rating: 4