BAREFOOT is by Elin Hilderbrand, another of her Nantucket Beach books that I always enjoy.
Three women, two of them sisters, head to the beach for the summer. All have baggage. The oldest sister has brought her two young boys and is about to undergo chemo for lung cancer. The younger sister has lost her job as college professor and reputation after sleeping with a student. The friend has found out that, after several in vitro attempts, she's finally pregnant. And that her husband is cheating.
As usual Hilderbrand does a great job of drawing each woman's personality as well as the babysitter hired to help with the boys, a college student who's drawn to each of the women in turn. They all have battles to fight and decisions to make. And we're with them all the way.
Seems to me the entire book is about choices. The choices each woman and the babysitter makes, the choices supporting characters make, the choices all of us might make. Some are good, some are bad, but in the end they must be lived with.
Good book.
Showing posts with label Elin Hilderbrand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elin Hilderbrand. Show all posts
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
ELIN HILDERBRAND
I think it was Laura???? who said she enjoyed this author so I got SUMMER PEOPLE and read it this past weekend.
While I like women's fiction okay, I prefer something that has a tight plot. This story was more of a woman trying to find herself, detailing her family's travails along the way, and wasn't terribly interesting to me. Others will probably love it.
But I think there were two reasons the book didn't work for me. The story about a family's grief for a dead husband and father, was too realistic; I read fiction to escape real life, not depress myself further. And the writer in me kept noticing craft details like changes of POV all over the place that had me rereading whole paragraphs to figure out why they seemed disjointed.
Overall, it was a nice enough story but not one I'd read again.
And you can't ever tell what other books by the same author are like. I didn't like Nora Roberts for years because so many of her books read like standard romances. Then I read one that seemed like another person had written it because the voice stood out so sharply. In all, there were 3-4 in this voice and I liked them.
So my taste depends a lot on the voice. But I still want an interesting plot, too. I guess that's why I'm into mysteries so much right now. Some of them have great voices and intriguing plots.
Anybody else have a book or author they want to recommend?
While I like women's fiction okay, I prefer something that has a tight plot. This story was more of a woman trying to find herself, detailing her family's travails along the way, and wasn't terribly interesting to me. Others will probably love it.
But I think there were two reasons the book didn't work for me. The story about a family's grief for a dead husband and father, was too realistic; I read fiction to escape real life, not depress myself further. And the writer in me kept noticing craft details like changes of POV all over the place that had me rereading whole paragraphs to figure out why they seemed disjointed.
Overall, it was a nice enough story but not one I'd read again.
And you can't ever tell what other books by the same author are like. I didn't like Nora Roberts for years because so many of her books read like standard romances. Then I read one that seemed like another person had written it because the voice stood out so sharply. In all, there were 3-4 in this voice and I liked them.
So my taste depends a lot on the voice. But I still want an interesting plot, too. I guess that's why I'm into mysteries so much right now. Some of them have great voices and intriguing plots.
Anybody else have a book or author they want to recommend?
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