SAN MIGUEL by T.C. Boyle (fic)

San Miguel is desolate island 26 miles off the coast of Santa Barbara, California.The contrast couldn't be more different, the treeless barren island defying the lush flowery paradise of Santa Barbara with its temperate climate and lovely homes.
T.C. Boyle has based his story on two real families who once loved in isolation on San Miguel. 
Boyle has divided the book into three parts, and although the island is central to the story and binds the three sections together, the stories are mainly about three women and the two men, searching for inner peace, who brought them there.
The first third of the book tells the story of Will Waters, a civil war veteran, his wife Marantha and step-daughter, Edith.  It takes place in 1888 and the hardships this family endures are horrible.  The weather is of two kinds, wet and cold, and dry and windy when the days are filled with sand.  The cabin they live in is little more than a shed.  Besides the sheep on which they depend for their livelihood, the only other occupants of the island are a couple of farmhands who come and go from the mainland, and a stalwart housemaid who seems to be the only one there with her head on straight.  Marantha is a consumptive and her struggles to survive are painful, and to this reader soon become tedious.
The middle section of the story tells what happens to Edith, a young schoolgirl of great promise who is forced to live and work in harrowing conditions by her increasingly angry and abusive stepfather. 
By the time I read to the final section of the novel, I was desperate for relief from the dreariness of this mean little island.  The time now changes to the 1940s.  By now the old home has been replaced by a comfortable ranch house, and the Lester family is living there.  Herbie, a shell-shocked veteran of WWI has brought his eastern educated wife to the island, hoping for an escape from the demons that plague him.  His wife Elise takes to the life of the island which by this time has greater contact with the mainland, and they have a loving relationship.  Their life takes on a rhythm that works well with that of the island.  Eventually two daughters are born.  This section of the book becomes less one of survival and more one of dealing with the personal issues that isolated living brings.  When WWII breaks out, the island becomes of interest to the Navy.  This interrupts their pastoral life in ways not foreseen.
T.C. Boyle is one of my favorite writers. His short stories are beautifully written; many have appeared in the New Yorker Magazine.  I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, though the writing is superb.  Boyle's characters are so real they could be your neighbors. The dreariness of the island is as real as can be.  It seems like each of the three sections of the book could stand alone as a short story.  The only story I really liked though was the story of the Lester family. It almost makes the rest of the read worthwhile.  "San Miguel" is one of the Times notable books of the year, so it may be more to the liking of other readers.  Boyle still remains a favorite of mine.