It’s really strange how I manage to read a book with a similar theme to another one right after the other. I don’t just mean the genre, because I obviously have favorites that I will repeatedly return to. I’m talking about major plot points that are eerily similar even though the genres are completely different.
This is the case with this book and another recent read (The Guilty Sister). Two totally different approaches with the same twist. It is just illustrative of how unique a book can be, I guess. The other is a firm psych thriller, while this one is clearly family drama.
Three sisters arrive at their grandmother’s house for one last “vacation” and to decide what to do with the house now that their grandmother has passed away. It’s a plot point that has been done before, but this time, there is an added twist.
Well, a deeply hidden family secret isn’t exactly a twist, but the way it is revealed is unique. I loved the letter-writing re-telling because (as Nana Rose says) it’s like narrating a story. It allowed her voice to be heard loud and clear, which I think was more effective than actual flashbacks.
I’m not going to say why that was important, but it was. Flashbacks would have lessened the impact of the secret. That’s all I’m going to say.
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In addition to those revelations, however, there is also the storyline of the three sisters and how they both love and misunderstand each other. It is refreshing that they aren’t all at odds in the beginning (usually these “forced residence” requirements aim for reconciliation).
They weren’t all perfect either. Each of the sisters had something that they were hiding from the other two. And they argued. A lot. It’s what families do, so it made them totally realistic.
The perspective is primarily from Jill, but not written in the first person. She’s just the focal point. I think that is one reason that I related to her the most. But I think it was also because she was a freelancer, so I understood her point of view on a lot of things.
Rachel and Brooke were more difficult to get a handle on, and I am not sure if that was by design or not. Because of that, I felt that the reveals for their secrets were a little awkward. But that was minor in the bigger picture.
Ultimately, this is a story of the importance of keeping family together at any cost, relying on those who love you the most, and doing what you think is right even though it may seem wrong at the time. I loved the images of the family traditions at Sea Breeze Lane, they sounded like fun.
I very much enjoyed this book and would recommend it.
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Author Bio:
Ever since she was a young girl, there were few things Kristin liked more than creative writing and spending time on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with her family. Eventually (after a succession of jobs that bored her to tears), she found a way to combine those two passions by becoming a women’s fiction author whose stories occur in oceanside settings. While Kristin doesn’t live on the Cape year-round, she escapes to the beach whenever she can.
