Monday, October 14, 2013

Beautiful Day - Review

Beautiful Day
By Elin Hilderbrand

Review by K.T Sullivan

Jenna Carmichael is using her late mother’s notebook as a guide for her wedding. Beth Carmichael jotted down her thoughts from flowers to music to the wedding night. Jenna is trying to follow the blueprint exactly. Unfortunately mom didn’t mention how to handle unruly bridesmaids, a flower girl thief, the groom’s father’s psycho ex-wife, and her husband’s current clingy wife. Scenic Nantucket is the venue for the comingling of the tribes. The bride’s family brings the sorrow of their loss. Beth was the glue keeping her family together. Her husband and daughters miss her and try to regain her presence through the notebook. Margot, the matron of honor, divorced older sister, and mother of three, brings a secret which will hurt her dad and reputation. The groom’s family is from the South. His mother is focused on appearances and keeping her sons in line. All must be on their best behavior. Can all of them make it through the extended weekend without embarrassing themselves and others? The past is the uninvited guest to the wedding and haunts all who attend. Wedding planning is like sausage making. The end result is delicious, but the process can be gruesome.  

The author brings together an eclectic group of guests. She makes it easy to relate to one, if not more, of the characters. So much emotion and tradition get tied together in one day. She brings the tension, the misunderstandings, and the rivalries up to a boil. There is always back story to any wedding. She highlights the fun and the love. A very enjoyable read.

Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket, which has been the setting for her five previous novels. Hilderbrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa.

Connect with Elin at: