It's always good to read "beach books" in the summer. Elin Hilderbrand books are always a fast and entertaining read, and this one is no exception to that. She does a nice job of describing and developing her characters.
The main character of the story is Hollis Shaw. From the outside, she has a cushy life. She is married to a doctor and her food blog has become a hit, so they are not hurting for money! She and her husband built her "dream home" on Hollis' family land on Nantucket, which is where she spends her summers. (Her husband, Matthew, works during the week and then goes to Nantucket on the weekends.) They have one daughter, Caroline, who is a young adult and a "daddy's girl".
Matthew dies unexpectantly in a car accident, which sends Hollis & Caroline into different tail spins - moving away from each other. This story really picks up about six months after Matthew's death. Hollis, after grieving for six months - and being estranged from Caroline during that whole time - decides to have a "Five-Star Weekend", an idea she gets from an article that she read. She invites women (4) from different parts of her life to gather for a weekend at her home on Nantucket. She also invites Caroline to film the weekend. (Caroline is a budding "filmographer". I'm not sure that's an actual word, but I can't think of a better one right now!)
Some of the women know each other, some don't. Some like each other. Others don't. One woman, Gigi, is a stranger to all. So, an interesting group to throw together for an entire weekend. As the weekend unfolds, we get to know each woman and their background stories. We get to know their strengths and their insecurities. We get to see why they have made the decisions they have in their lives - and how it's affected each of them. One thing I love about this story is Caroline discovering who her mother is as a person, and not just as a mother. As Caroline interviews each of the women separately about their experiences with Hollis during the different times of her life, she develops an understanding of who her mother actually is. It really strengthens their relationship tenfold.
This is a story about friendship and forgiveness - and love. What's not to like?
Wendy's Rating: ****
No comments:
Post a Comment