Review: The Beach House

If you're looking for something to throw in your bag alongside your sunscreen, The Beach House is a good fit.

Set in Nantucket, the novel weaves together the lives of characters at various crossroads in their lives.

At this center is Nan, the longtime owner of esteemed estate on the island. She's lonely and cash poor, which leads her to the decision to take in boarders over the summer. Enter Daff and Daniel, both at breaking points in their respective marriages and trying to figure out where they go from here. Nan's grown son also comes back home for his own little break from life.

It takes awhile for everyone's stories to intersect, but once they do, it's interesting reading, as each character learns such classic lessons as "everything happens for a reason" and "it may not always be what you thought/wanted, but it is what it is."

Let me say that I loved Nan from the very first pages. With "her trademark scarlet lipstick the first thing she puts on every morning, before her underwear even, before her bath." With her eccentricity and her sense of self.

There are a couple of surprises along the way...and several "we all saw that coming" moments. The novel has its flaws, but overall, it's a typical summer read...light and breezy and ultimately satisfying.