Book Summary and Reviews of At Sea by Emma Fedor

Book Summary

What happens when the man you love most in the world unexpectedly disappears and takes your small child with him? Emma Fedor's "wonderful, haunting, and original" (Katherine Faulkner, author of Greenwich Park) debut explores the fierceness of first love and how far one woman will go to learn the truth about her family.

When Cara and Brendan first meet, she's fresh out of college, recovering from the recent death of her mother, and spending time on Martha's Vineyard while trying to figure out her next steps. She's swept away by Brendan's humor and charm, and intoxicated by his thrilling, dangerous secret: he can breathe underwater. Able to stay beneath the waves for longer than should be possible, Brendan reveals that he is part of a secret experimental unit of the US Special Forces. And Cara, struck by the power of his conviction, by his unstoppable charisma, and by the evidence before her, believes him.

Their summer romance turns serious. Then Cara gets pregnant. When their son, Micah, is born, she's sure their happy ending is underway. Still, she's thrown by Brendan's dramatic moods, his unexplained disappearances, and the weight of his secrets. Cara is determined to stay strong for her young family—until he and baby Micah vanish, leaving her desolate and alone and questioning everything she once thought was true.

Five years later, Cara is still struggling to move forward, married to another man and trying to rebuild her life, when a local fisherman announces he's spotted two people—one of them a small child—treading water in Nantucket Sound, far from any vessels and miles from shore. The news rekindles Cara's never-abandoned hope that her little boy may still be alive. As she fights to untangle delusion from reality, and revisits a past she's worked hard to reconcile, Cara is determined to learn the truth about her lost love and finally find her son in this "book you won't be able to put down" (Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane).

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Cara is wary of Brendan when she first meets him, but he quickly wins her over with his wit and charm. As they get closer and begin to fall for each other, Brendan continues to remind Cara of his imminent departure, but then asks her if she would rather that he stay and forgo his responsibilities. Is this an act of love, or could it be something more sinister? Discuss the unintentional, or intentional, psychological consequences of Brendan telling Cara that they only have so many days together and then telling her it's up to her whether he stays.
2. On their first date, Cara thinks that Brendan is taking her out to eat and winds up starving as they drink Baileys on the beach. When he asks if she's hungry, she says she already ate. ...