(55) The Beach House by Jane Green

Yet again ANOTHER perfect Beach Read! I think I really need to start expanding my horizons! *grin*

I have read all of Jane Green's books within the last year. I think that of them all, Bookends was my favorite. But having read them all closely together, and not in order of her writing them, it is quite obvious that Jane Green is growing up & has moved to the States.

Most of her early work is set in the UK (which I LOVE!!) and features young(er), single girls trying to find success & love while staying true to themselves.

The Beach House is nothing like that. LOL. The Beach House tells the story of a woman late in her life, Nan, and her house on Nantucket (there is that island again!!). Nan is known as that eccentric woman on the hill. She rides a bicycle while wearing flowing skirts and smoking a cigarette. She watches as her beloved island is being swallowed up by McMansions & million dollar developments. Nan has recently been told by her money guy, that she needs to do something different or risk losing her beloved Windemere.

Nan decides to rent out her rooms for the summer. And soon her house is full of life again. Jane Green's older books are about young women starting out in life. Her last couple of books have been about people approaching their middle ages. The Beach House features more of the latter. The people that Nan takes in soon becomes family. And family sticks together through everything.

There is her son, Michael, who has come home for a break after making some less than stellar relationship choices.

There is Daniel. Daniel has recently come to the realization that his whole life has been a lie. He is trying to piece himself back together, all the while trying to stay active in his daughter's lives.

And there is Daff. Daff is also starting her life over after discovering that her husband had an affair & is dealing with the pain that her teenage daughter would rather be with him, than with her.

As the "family" members try to deal with their individual issues & lives, they rally around Nan & help her get through some hard times. And of course, at the center of it all is Windemere.

The Beach House.

Once again, Jane Green has written an engrossing, heartwarming look at people & the relationships they form. About the lives they lead. And in this book, about what happens when life doesn't go as planned. Yet again, another great beach read (or front porch read) to waste away a summer afternoon!