Review by Darcie
Czajkowski
Charlotte Evans
hasn't seen best friend Nicole Carlysle in a decade. That was her doing. After
committing an unspeakable act of betrayal against Nicole, Charlotte has kept
her distance, the guilt too much for her to sustain a close friendship.
Nicole is in the
dark. Sure, Charlotte is a wildly successful travel writer and is constantly
flitting around the world, bouncing from assignment to assignment, but can't
she at least say in touch on a basic level?
But when Nicole's
organic and farm-to-table food blog turns into a cookbook deal, Nicole knows
that the success of her book necessitates Charlotte's skill for interviewing
and knack for convincing writing. Knowing that she owes Nicole, Charlotte
agrees, and returns to Quinnipeague, an island off the coast of Maine where the
girls spent summers together.
Only a summer of
friendship-rekindling and sampling and transcribing local recipes are
overshadowed by Charlotte's intrigue with Leo, a man whose mother
grew and sourced the best of the island's herbs with her rumored magical
touch, and Nicole's worry over a secret that her husband
Julian has been forcing her to keep for four years.
In a sometimes
slow unfurling of events, Charlotte and Nicole's lives become even
more entwined when Nicole breaks down and reveals her secret. And as it turns
out, the very thing that could be the dreamed-for cure of her
husband's ailment is the very thing that Charlotte sacrificed her
friendship with Nicole to keep hidden.
With the secrets
revealed, will Nicole and Charlotte's friendship be able to withstand the
blow? And how will Julian fare in the wake of the
revelation? Will Charlotte connect in forever-type way with Leo, or will
she be left once again broken-hearted and eager for her next assignment, far
away from Quinnipeague?
This is the first
novel I've read by Barbara Delinsky, so I didn't know what to expect.
While the title made me think of a lighter, beach-read type of book, I found
this story to be more literary fiction than mainstream women's. Initially,
for the first third of the book, I found the storyline to be a bit
slow-moving, with too-detailed descriptions of the types of plants and
flowers on the island and the different manners in which the ocean
ebbed and flowed. Still, I was impressed by how vividly
Barbara brought the island to life in these details. She clearly had
a very real picture of how the island was and executed that detail
flawlessly. It was just a little much for me, as someone who
appreciates more dialogue to keep the story moving at a quicker pace.
That being said, I
found the story to be very captivating after surpassing that initial
section of the book. I was drawn into the history of the friendship
between Nicole and Charlotte, and wanted them to return to a place where they
were once again best friends. At the same time, Charlotte's betrayal
was incredibly damning and I do not know if the book's resolution was
realistic. Nicole seemed to be forgiving, to the point of being a push-over and,
even though I wanted to believe that I could be as forgiving, I feel
that such a betrayal might preclude the return to
a tight-knit friendship.
What mostly drew me
into the story was Charlotte's relationship with Leo. I desperately wanted
them to find a way to make their burgeoning relationship work,
even though the odds were against them. I found Leo's tough
exterior but lovable interior to suit Charlotte's worldly personality
and was deeply engrossed in the development of their relationship and as
individual characters over the course of the story.
I would definitely
recommend this book, especially for readers who adore a happily-ever-after.
While I believe that the conclusions to the storylines were a bit too perfect
as a whole, I felt that Barbara's build-up to the resolutions made them believable
if taken individually. I also appreciated and much respected
Barbara's presumably vast and in-depth research on Multiple Sclerosis. She
executed that storyline with thoughtful insight about the disease and how
family members of those inflicted with the disease would handle
the situation. While some might find Nicole's reaction and manner of
dealing with the news insensitive, very few people can truly relate
to the toll it takes on the wife and other family members when a loved one
is stricken with a life-changing disorder. I believe that Barbara captured
the moods and motivations of both Julian and Nicole's characters in this
respect.
So add this book
to your summer reading list and spend a little time on the charming
island oasis of Quinnipeague.
Purchase the book at:
Amazon * B&N
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About the Author:
Barbara Delinsky is an American writer of romance novels, including 19 New
York Times bestsellers. She
has also been published under the pen names Bonnie Drake and
Billie Douglass.
In 1963, she graduated from Newton High
School, in Newton, Massachusetts.
She then went on to earn a B.A. in Psychology from Tufts
University and an M.A. in Sociology at Boston College.
The
Delinsky family resides in Newton,
Massachusetts.
Connect
with the author at:
