Fellowship Point: A Novel
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Fellowship Point: A Novel Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 3,224 ratings
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“A magnificent storytelling feat” (TheBoston Globe) story of lifelong friendship between two very different “superbly depicted” (The Wall Street Journal) women with shared histories, divisive loyalties, hidden sorrows, and eighty years of summers on a pristine point of land on the coast of Maine, set across the arc of the 20th century.

Celebrated children’s book author Agnes Lee is determined to secure her legacy—to complete what she knows will be the final volume of her pseudonymously written Franklin Square novels; and even more consuming, to permanently protect the peninsula of majestic coast in Maine known as Fellowship Point. To donate the land to a trust, Agnes must convince shareholders to dissolve a generations-old partnership. And one of those shareholders is her best friend, Polly.

Polly Wister has led a different kind of life than Agnes: that of a well-off married woman with children, defined by her devotion to her husband, a philosophy professor with an inflated sense of stature. She strives to create beauty and harmony in her home, in her friendships, and in her family. Polly soon finds her loyalties torn between the wishes of her best friend and the wishes of her three sons—but what is it that Polly wants herself?

Agnes’s designs are further muddied when an enterprising young book editor named Maud Silver sets out to convince Agnes to write her memoirs. Agnes’s resistance cannot prevent long-buried memories and secrets from coming to light with far-reaching repercussions for all.

“An ambitious and satisfying tale” (The Washington Post), Fellowship Point reads like a 19th-century epic, but it is entirely contemporary in its “reflections on aging, writing, stewardship, legacies, independence, and responsibility. At its heart, Fellowship Point is about caring for the places and people we love...This magnificent novel affirms that change and growth are possible at any age” (The Christian Science Monitor).

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  1. Listening Length
    19 hours and 32 minutes
  2. Author
    Alice Elliott Dark
  3. Narrator
    Cassandra Campbell
  4. Audible release date
    July 5, 2022
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Simon & Schuster Audio
  7. ASIN
    B099BJZL23
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 19 hours and 32 minutes
Author Alice Elliott Dark
Narrator Cassandra Campbell
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date July 05, 2022
Publisher Simon & Schuster Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B099BJZL23
Best Sellers Rank #13,963 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#72 in Friendship Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#172 in Fiction Sagas
#245 in Friendship Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
3,224 global ratings
Fellowship Point—transformative and engaging
5 Stars
Fellowship Point—transformative and engaging
An ambitious, important book about women, friendship, fellowship, and stewardship. You won't want it to end.
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Top reviews from the United States

JordanT
5.0 out of 5 stars Cathartic—and sorely underrated
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2023
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I’ll admit, I found the first half of Alice Elliot Dark’s “Fellowship Point” a task that I had to push through—but my instinct told me to persevere, and the payoff was greatly rewarding and even empowering. I’ve read close to thirty novels this year, all of them literary, but I would consider “Fellowships Point” in my top two favorite. I’m not going to write a summary of the novel—others have don’t that here and you can read the synopsis in the book’s description. With that said, I encourage you to read this extraordinary work; stay with it because everything ties together in a beautiful climax and conclusion. “Fellowship Point” has inspired me to write, to value friendships and family, and to respect the natural beauty of this world.
19 people found this helpful
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olivia
4.0 out of 5 stars A good read
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2024
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Though not one I would've chosen if not for my book club, I am glad I read it. It was quite a journey for Fellowship Point and those who loved the place .
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PAB
5.0 out of 5 stars So worth the effort to the half way pint then it reads much easier.
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2022
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A story if two women on their 80s. One married the other not. It rang so try for me in terms of how people relate to single women and aging. To “friendships” and the way they can evolve or end. Or begin again. It’s about how those living alone think. It’s not full of idiotic clap trap and tedious stuff that women are usually portrayed doing. It paints a realistic Picture of the loneliness that living brings. And how to women coped. Emerging from the suffocating bore of her husband by his death. The fickleness of her sons. Her dealing with deaths of daughters. The other the loss of an imagined relationship. In a tragic way. That was suffered in silence. And her steadfastness.

If one finds this boring too bad for them. It is a book I was sad to see end. The ladies became friends of sorts.

As with many of the best, this novel may require some patience and effort to persevere through the first half. Most good novels do in the build up. At almost 600 pages itsxa long half way point but it is worth it. I found days went by it sat aside. But I was drawn in for chapters.

As was “When the Crawdads Sing.” Both have the minds the main characters as base. Not a lot of action. But lively descriptions of the landscapes etc. and so memorable in the solitariness. Not for everyone and if lots of characters and pulp fiction is your thing, the crap most fiction relays about human relationships pass this up.
15 people found this helpful
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Elizabeth Stone
5.0 out of 5 stars Such depth of character! wonderful writing!
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2022
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Let me say right out, I am a restless reader who routinely abandons well written books that don't engage me, or hi octane not-so-well-written books that grab my attention temporarily merely the way a car accident does. FELLOWSHIP POINT got me and held me. It is a story of a believable and deep friendship between two women--very different from one another, both flawed, both still wrestling with life, their pasts, their present and their awareness of a limited future but a future they intend to live fully. I loved Alice Elliott Dark's humor, her mastery of omniscient narration for TWO characters (not one, which is pretty unusual), plus her her warts-and-all approach to character, her plot surprises, the allusions to real life and real literature, and the way unbidden thoughts come to her characters, as they do for all of us, and her inclusion of intergenerational friendship, which most writers overlook, though I imagine they such friendships play a part in the lives of most of us. Reading the novel was entering a universe, and so the storyline and the characters stayed with me even when I was off living my daily life. Apparently the book took Dark a couple of decades--not a surprise, given the emotional and narrative archeology of the book. I loved it and won't forget Agnes or Polly or Maud either. The only thing that made me stop and wonder in a way that took me away from the text is why Dark spelled glamour as "glamor". Anyone know?
26 people found this helpful
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Avid Reader
3.0 out of 5 stars Lost Opportunity
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2024
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It’s hard to assign the right number of stars to this novel. For starters, the writing is outstanding. This is one of those rare books where the sheer beauty of the language will cause the reader to pause and reread a passage, just to savor the author’s skill. In addition, it’s very gratifying to read a story about two women in their senior years—lifelong best friends Agnes and Polly—who are living meaningful, active, fun, and interesting lives with their friends and families, and who both have rich inner lives. Sadly, all this potential for a powerful novel is lost in the morass of the plot. The novel begins very tediously; so slowly in fact that I came very close to giving up on it. It then picked up the pace and became interesting in the middle, bogged down again at the end, and worst of all, pulled several astonishing rabbits out of the hat in the last 50 pages to wind everything up in an improbably happy ending. The most serious narrative misstep happens when Agnes, writing in a journal fashioned as a letter to her deceased sister, mentions in passing that decades ago she was accidentally responsible for the deaths of two people. The author has us peering over Agnes’s shoulder for the entire book; it’s incomprehensible that Agnes seemingly isn’t the least bit bothered by this incident. Polly finds out about it decades later, telling Agnes she isn’t to blame. And so? This is one of those instances where I’d love to sit down with the author and discuss why she even bothered including this truly shocking twist in the story, only to attribute so little impact to it in the life of a central character. Regretfully, I can’t say I’d recommend this book despite its masterful writing. There’s just way too much to shovel out of the way before you find the rare and elusive ponies.
2 people found this helpful
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Chrysanthemum
5.0 out of 5 stars Deep, funny, moving
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2023
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What if a peppery old New England spinster was also a Zen master by the end of her life? What if her sharp tongue and New England and Quaker ways kept her both in touch with and at arm’s length from the deep beauty around her? What if over the course of years she loved and lost, but never really lost, all those she most cherished? What if the end of a book brings deep aching tears, but without being sad?

If those things seem paradoxical, just know that they fit together in this novel like a beautifully crafted puzzle, one that’s good company and good food for thought.
15 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Did not want it to end!!
Reviewed in Canada on November 19, 2022
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Characters are real, well-developed, setting is perfect...one of my favourites!
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takako
5.0 out of 5 stars Fellowship Point belonged to the first peoples of Maine.
Reviewed in Japan on September 9, 2022
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著者は巻末の Acknowledgement を、次のように締めくくっている。
As a child I learned that I lived on land where indigenous peoples had lived for hundreds of years. I never stopped thinking about this and wondering what to do about it.　The question found its way into this novel. I hope we all find a just answer.

アメリカ、Maine 州 の北部の半島 Cape Deel に Fellowship Point と呼ばれる地域がある。森林や海岸地帯が昔ながらの自然のままに残されている景勝地だ。数軒の cottage は、先祖代々移り住んできた人々の自然と共生する安らぎの場所でもある。物語は2000年 〜 2003年、80歳を超えて、一帯を観光のために開発しようとする者たちに対抗して、この地をトラストに委ねようとする Agnes と Polly を中心に始まる。

Agnes は1人暮らし、祖父や父親から受けついできた敬虔なクエーカー教徒であり、著名な絵本作家として名を馳せ、一方では誰にも明かすことのないペンネームで大人向けの小説も書き続けている。時折、1960年代の彼女の秘密が、亡き妹への手紙という形で描かれる。ある日突然彼女の静かな生活の中に入り込んできた Virgil と幼い娘 Nan。Virgil も writer だった。Agnes は放浪の父娘に温かく接するうちに、やがて愛が芽生えたかに思われたが ～。
Polly は大学教授で哲学者の Dick と結婚し、3人の息子がいて、待ち望んでいた女の子を幼くして亡くしたことから心の奥底に悲しみを湛えてはいるが、裕福で家族を大切に暮らしている。
2人はそれぞれフィラデルフィアに住居を持つが、Cape Deel での日々と Fellowship Point をこよなく愛し、一時期断絶があったものの、生涯の親友であった。The best mirror is an old friend. 〈George Hervert〉と、Epigraph にある。

Cottage での暮らしには、近隣の他の人たちのゴシップや、Polly の成長した息子たちとの確執、使用人の Robert への信頼や慈しみ、友情など、様々な物語が紡がれる。
そして Agnes の編集者であり、精神を病んだ母親 Heidi に寄り添い、幼い娘 Clemmie を育てるシングルマザーの Maud が重要な立ち位置にいる。あるとき Agnes は幼い Clemmie に Nan の面影を感じて ～。

それぞれのエピソードが美しい自然とともに情感豊かに描かれ、感動的で惹きこまれる。とりわけ2008年の最終章で Agnes が亡き友に語りかけるところは、深い意味合いが感じられて、心に響く。
アメリカの先住民に関することがらも知ることが出来た。Wabanaki という種族についても。
人種差別とともにアメリカが今なお歴史的に抱えてきている課題であろう。
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Louise B.
3.0 out of 5 stars Well written BUT...
Reviewed in Canada on August 21, 2023
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The diaries went way too long..I found some very boring.
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