July 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW: Nancy Thayer's 'Beachcombers' Dissects with Wit, Humor, Pathos Relationships of Three Sisters As They Confront Real, Imagined Crises
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Sisters. Seven little letters for one of the world's most complicated relationships. In Nancy Thayer's "Beachcombers" (Ballantine Books, 368 pages, $25.00) we're presented with -- in all their glory -- the three Fox sisters, Abbie, 30, Emma, 28, and Lily, 22, along with their dad, Jim, 52, and all the other people they captivate and drive absolutely bonkers.
Lily, the "beauty" of the family, lives with her dad and writers for the local weekly magazine. She's a good reporter and photographer and a social butterfly, but lately she's worried about Marina, the beautiful divorcee who's rented their guesthouse, built years before by their contractor dad as a "playhouse" for the three girls and expanded into a full-fledged guesthouse.
She e-mails Abbie, who is working as a nanny in London, telling her to come home to Nantucket Island and help her rescue Jim from the clutches of Marina, and also to minister to the needs of Emma, who's lost her high-paying stockbroker job in Boston -- and her fiance Duncan.
The Fox girls closed ranks 15 years ago after the death of their mother, Danielle, with Abbie taking on the role of surrogate mother, sacrificing her hopes for a higher education to make sure Emma and Lily were raised properly and achieved success.
Emma and Abbie form Nantucket Mermaids, providing nannies and babysitting to the summer people of Nantucket. Emma meets and works for elderly Millicent Bracebridge, an elderly grande dame of Nantucket. She reads to Millicent and bonds with the older woman -- and her shy and handsome grandson historian Spencer. It quickly becomes obvious that Spencer is smitten with Emma.
Abbie Fox hasn’t seen her father or two younger sisters in almost two years, during which she’s jetted around the world and experienced life, if not love. When Abbie encounters Howell, a sensitive and appealing married man, her employer as a nanny, she breaks her own rules in the name of love, fearing all the while that she’ll regret it.
Lily discovers the world of the rich and famous as she befriends Eartha, who has a summer home on Nantucket and offers her a chance to expand her horizons. Lily is engaged to Jason, a hunky contractor who was two grades ahead of her in high school and has to choose between the world of Eartha and life with Jason in a basement apartment as he builds his business.
Even Marina, who has come to Nantucket to forget heartbreak and betrayal, faces an astonishing turn of events that will find her torn between Jim and her ex-husband, Gerry, who dumped her for her best friend Dara after 15 years of marriage and building a successful Kansas City advertising and design firm. At summer’s end, these unforgettable women will face profound choices—and undergo personal transformations that will surprise even themselves.
"Beachcombers" is a book that will appeal primarily to women, but men should find insights about the thought processes of the women in their lives -- always a good idea. Thayer explores the social strata of Nantucket, where the summer people often look down their noses at "island people" like the Fox family. It's a "beach" book, but it's also a comedy of manners that's fun to read.
About the Author
Nancy Thayer is the New York Times bestselling author of "Moon Shell Beach," "The Hot Flash Club," "The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again," Hot Flash Holidays," "The Hot Flash Club Chills Out, and "Between Husbands and Friends." She lives on Nantucket.
Publisher's website: www.ballantinebooks.com
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BOOK REVIEW: Nancy Thayer's 'Beachcombers' Dissects with Wit, Humor, Pathos Relationships of Three Sisters As They Confront Real, Imagined Crises
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Sisters. Seven little letters for one of the world's most complicated relationships. In Nancy Thayer's "Beachcombers" (Ballantine Books, 368 pages, $25.00) we're presented with -- in all their glory -- the three Fox sisters, Abbie, 30, Emma, 28, and Lily, 22, along with their dad, Jim, 52, and all the other people they captivate and drive absolutely bonkers.
Lily, the "beauty" of the family, lives with her dad and writers for the local weekly magazine. She's a good reporter and photographer and a social butterfly, but lately she's worried about Marina, the beautiful divorcee who's rented their guesthouse, built years before by their contractor dad as a "playhouse" for the three girls and expanded into a full-fledged guesthouse.
She e-mails Abbie, who is working as a nanny in London, telling her to come home to Nantucket Island and help her rescue Jim from the clutches of Marina, and also to minister to the needs of Emma, who's lost her high-paying stockbroker job in Boston -- and her fiance Duncan.
The Fox girls closed ranks 15 years ago after the death of their mother, Danielle, with Abbie taking on the role of surrogate mother, sacrificing her hopes for a higher education to make sure Emma and Lily were raised properly and achieved success.
Emma and Abbie form Nantucket Mermaids, providing nannies and babysitting to the summer people of Nantucket. Emma meets and works for elderly Millicent Bracebridge, an elderly grande dame of Nantucket. She reads to Millicent and bonds with the older woman -- and her shy and handsome grandson historian Spencer. It quickly becomes obvious that Spencer is smitten with Emma.
Abbie Fox hasn’t seen her father or two younger sisters in almost two years, during which she’s jetted around the world and experienced life, if not love. When Abbie encounters Howell, a sensitive and appealing married man, her employer as a nanny, she breaks her own rules in the name of love, fearing all the while that she’ll regret it.
Lily discovers the world of the rich and famous as she befriends Eartha, who has a summer home on Nantucket and offers her a chance to expand her horizons. Lily is engaged to Jason, a hunky contractor who was two grades ahead of her in high school and has to choose between the world of Eartha and life with Jason in a basement apartment as he builds his business.
Even Marina, who has come to Nantucket to forget heartbreak and betrayal, faces an astonishing turn of events that will find her torn between Jim and her ex-husband, Gerry, who dumped her for her best friend Dara after 15 years of marriage and building a successful Kansas City advertising and design firm. At summer’s end, these unforgettable women will face profound choices—and undergo personal transformations that will surprise even themselves.
"Beachcombers" is a book that will appeal primarily to women, but men should find insights about the thought processes of the women in their lives -- always a good idea. Thayer explores the social strata of Nantucket, where the summer people often look down their noses at "island people" like the Fox family. It's a "beach" book, but it's also a comedy of manners that's fun to read.
About the Author
Nancy Thayer is the New York Times bestselling author of "Moon Shell Beach," "The Hot Flash Club," "The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again," Hot Flash Holidays," "The Hot Flash Club Chills Out, and "Between Husbands and Friends." She lives on Nantucket.
Publisher's website: www.ballantinebooks.com
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