Book Review: The Beach House by Jane Green

I finished this book this afternoon. It took me 5 days to read it - a pretty short time when I generally only read before bed. A few years back I read every Jane Green book I could get my hands on. Somewhere (probably still in a box) I have like 5 of her early paperbacks. They're all easy reading, generally about young 20- or 30-somethings living it up either around NYC or in London. Jane Green was born in London, but has lived in Connecticut the last 7 years so her early books are very London-centric while her later books are more American. I hadn't read any of her books in a long time. I never shell out the money for hardback books (except for Nicholas Sparks...I have the entire collection...) and generally only buy paperbacks on sale. Also, my library back home hadn't been getting any of her new books in for some reason. Well, when I was perusing the library here for the first time last week I was trying to think of any authors I liked and knew their names off the top of my head so I could easily find some books in the fiction section. Jane Green popped right up - such an easy name to remember!

So, the book: it's set in 2007 mostly in Nantucket up in New England. Growing up I spent a number of vacations on the Jersey shore, so I have very fond memories of the Atlantic Coast. I could think of nothing more perfect than waking up everyday to the sound of the waves, so obviously a book taking place in a rambling old beach house in Nantucket struck a chord with me. When I read the book jacket, I wasn't really sure if I'd like the book. I knew I liked her writing, but the book was centered around a 60-something woman, not the 20- or 30-somethings I was used to from her. I picked it up that night and dove in. It's an easy read and I got into the characters right away. There are a number of characters to keep track of right from the beginning so it took a bit to get the relationships and names straight in my head. The imagery is beautiful, as are the characters themselves. All walks of life are represented and I found a bit of myself in each one. There was one twist I totally didn't see coming which was nice. Generally I feel the twist coming on even if I'm not sure what it is, but this time I didn't have a clue. Overall, it was a really good book - one I will surely suggest to my mom (Hey, Mom! Read this book!). My only wish is that I could have read it sitting in an Adirondack chair on the porch of a gorgeous old house drinking lemonade and listening to the waves. It's a perfect summertime read.

Next up: Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult.

S.