Mason's Retreat

A page-turning, psychological exploration,with the feel of a sprawling family epic in a spare 290 pages. Tilghman crafts insightful and absorbing portraits of an array of disparate characters to tell the story of Edward and Edith Mason, who return to America at the end of the Depression with their two sons after years living in England, and the musty Victorian atmosphere of both their family relationships and the expectations of their place in the world are a potent ingredient. Their fading pretentions of British class-superiority there have been devastated by bad business decisions and they have been forced to move to the yet-unseen Mason manse, the Retreat, on the Eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay. Set in the two years leading up to the outbreak of World War II, the tensions among the four Mason family members ripple throughout their community, to include friends, lovers, and most strikingly, to their employees, including two black housekeepers and the farmhand Robert, whose racial situation in the Depression-era, rural South is rendered to clear-headed, stunning effect in many of the book's scenes. The assured writing and psychological surprises reminded me of Thomas Mallon's "Henry and Clara", and the gathering sense of doom and inexorable tragedy, mirrored in the offstage story of Europe in 1939 reminded me again and again of Ian McEwan's "Atonement", highest of praise from me.

Wonderfully drawn characters and a masterfully haunting sense of time and place. Characters include very real children (so much of literature is made up only of a world of erudite adults -- clearly not the planet I live on). I think of this book every time I go to the Eastern shore. Does anyone know if the author is in fact related to the folks that Tilighman is named after?

Mr. Tilghman has created a gem. In a deceptively simplistic way, he allows the reader to explore the nuances of the characters' relationships. As someone who is familiar with the Eastern Shore, every detail evoked this solitary but lovely place. This is a book you'll reflect on long after the last page is read.

AN EXCELLENT ACCOUNT OF AN AREA OF THE U.S. AND THE TIMES PRECEDING W.W.2.THE AUTHOR IS CLEARLY AWARE OF THE RURAL AREA OF THE EASTERN MARYLAND SHORE AND THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED THERE IN THE EARLY 1900'S. IWOULD DEFINITELY READ MORE BY THIS AUTHOR

Christopher Tilghman's ability to describe the feelings and perceptions of each character with incredible clarity allows the reader to experience, not just read. This is a book about people, their relationships and their struggles to balance the need to live the life dealt to them, while striving for the lives they truly want. Mason's Retreat is a book that transports you into the world of Edward Mason and his family each time you pick it up. I enjoyed this book just as much as other highly regarded books such as Jane Smiley's "A Thousand Acres".