If you're adding books to your summing reading list, add this one if only because it's got a beachy cover that I love and because it reminds me of a Dorothea Benton Frank book and you know I love her.
The Beach at Painter's Cove - Shelley Noble
From the New York Times bestselling author of Whisper Beach comes another heartwarming story of four generations of women who reunite in their crumbling family mansion by the sea for a dramatic summer filled with love, family, secrets and sisterhood.
The Whitaker family’s Connecticut mansion, Muses by the Sea, has always been a haven for artists, a hotbed of creativity, extravagances, and the occasional scandal. Art patrons for generations, the Whitakers supported strangers but drained the life out of each other. Now, after being estranged for years, four generations of Whitaker women find themselves once again at The Muses.
Leo, the Whitaker matriarch, lives in the rambling mansion crammed with artwork and junk. She plans to stay there until she joins her husband Wes on the knoll overlooking the cove and meadow where they first met. Her sister-in-law Fae, the town eccentric, is desperate to keep a secret she has been hiding for years.
Jillian, is a jet setting actress, down on her luck, and has run out of men to support her. She thinks selling The Muses will make life easier for her mother, Leo, and Fae by moving them into assisted living. The sale will also bring her the funds to get herself back on top.
Issy, Jillian’s daughter, has a successful life as a museum exhibit designer that takes her around the world. But the Muses and her grandmother are the only family she’s known and when her sister leaves her own children with Leo, Issy knows she has to step in to help.
Steph, is only twelve-years-old and desperately needs someone to fire her imagination and bring her out of her shell. What she begins to discover at the Muses could change the course of her future.
As Issy martials the family together to restore the mansion and catalogue the massive art collection, a surprising thing happens. Despite storms and moonlight dancing, diva attacks and cat fights, trips to the beach and flights of fancy, these four generations of erratic, dramatic women may just find a way to save the Muses and reunite their family.
I absolutely loved this book. Immediately from the beginning of the book it reminded me of a Dorothea Benton Frank book and I basically start my summer reading with her latest, and this to me had a similar cast of characters. We have a flawed family, we have a gorgeous beach setting, and we have a summer to fix so much dysfunction- can we do it?
The best part about this is that it isn't just one or two generations, we have four generations trying to come together, we have these children who are essentially abandoned by their parents but Leo is ill so their aunt has to care for them. We have Fae (who I kind of love because she's the crazy and I have a soft spot for the family crazy) but she's the recluse who has some secrets that end up being revealed by the end of summer. Jillian is kind of a mess who thought she was going to be a star actress so she abandoned her children (Vivian and Issy) but she's turned out to be broke and out of options so she's come home and needs to sell everything to keep up with her lifestyle. Vivian (who was the one who has abandoned her own kids to chase a man) is gone, so Issy now has to take care of her sisters kids but realizes that while she's back "home" her mother, who she hasn't seen in years has also shown up basically to sell the place and place Leo and Fae into assisted living and clear them out of their stuff.
Do you see how a storm of personalities are brewing? How basically all hell is going to break loose in this house? Yes, well it does and it makes for an amazing read. Add in some romance for a few characters, there is some humor thrown throughout, family drama, and it keeps you on your toes. It's just over 400 pages so it's a little longer than what I'd like for my casual reads (you know I'm picky) but I was thoroughly enjoying this book the entire time and I highly recommend it if you need a light and fun read for the beach or the patio while you're keeping an eagle on the kiddos.
You can order a copy on the HarperCollins website and I see they have a limited time offer of 20% off on their website, so that might be worth a try! Author Shelley Noble can be followed on her website, Facebook and Twitter as well.
1 comment:
I'm glad you enjoyed this one so much even though it is a bit longer than you generally go for. It sounds like a fabulous summer read! Thanks for being a part of the tour.
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