August 30, 2010
Denice Hicks effectively sets the tone for Hilderbrand’s latest crowd-pleasing beach tale exploring the ups and downs of sibling rivalry, divorce, and the rekindling of long-dormant romantic passions. Admittedly, keeping track of the back-and-forth flow of dialogue between protagonist Birdie Cousins and her sister India and also between Birdie’s two young-adult daughters, Chess and Tate, may not always be easy for the listener; however, Hicks does bring distinctive touches into her vocal depictions when specific plot points or scenes allow. In particular, she excels in her portrayal of the villainous—and generally inebriated—socialite Anita Fullin, Tate’s rival for the affections of hunky young widower and vacation-home caretaker Barrett Lee. A Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, May 17).
May 17, 2010
At the start of this steamy woman's novel from Hilderbrand (The Castaways), recently divorced Birdie Cousins is busy planning the September wedding of her older daughter, Chess, at the family house on Tuckernuck, a privately owned island near Nantucket. Birdie hopes to spend some quality time with Chess on Tuckernuck in July, but then Chess breaks her engagement to her consummate Ivy League golden boy fiancé, Michael Morgan. Michael fatally plunges off a Utah crag just when Birdie acquires her own new beau—a married man with a wife stricken with Alzheimer's. Birdie, Chess, and their support team—Birdie's computer-guru younger daughter, Tate, and Birdie's bohemian widowed sister, India—hare off to Tuckernuck. There hunky handyman Barrett Lee flutters hearts and dampens underwear in a breathless month of supercharged estrogenic imbalances. This never-never land portrait of the rich and randy will please those looking for a satisfying beach read.
May 1, 2010
Two generations of women come together off the coast of Nantucket as they spend the summer in the family beach cottage. They're all there for different reasons: Chess is trying to mend her broken heart after her ex-fiancé dies in a tragic accident; her sister, Tate, is eager to escape boredom and figure out what she really wants from life; their mother, Birdie, is still coming to terms with her divorce; and Birdie's sister, India, is trying to help them allwhile dealing with her own secret pain. VERDICT For those looking for a slower-paced novel to savor, this latest by Hilderbrand ("The Castaways") will fit the bill. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ"2/15/10.]
Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from May 15, 2010
Queen of the summer novel—how could she not be, with all her stories set on an island—Hilderbrand delivers a beguiling ninth (The Castaways, 2009, etc.), featuring romance and mystery on isolated Tuckernuck Island.
The Tate family has had a house on Tuckernuck (just off the coast of swanky Nantucket) for generations. It has been empty for years, but now Birdie wants to spend a quiet mother-daughter week there with Chess before Chess's wedding to Michael Morgan. Then the unthinkable happens—perfect Chess (beautiful, rich, well-bred food editor of Glamorous Home) dumps the equally perfect Michael. She quits her job, leaves her New York apartment for Birdie's home in New Canaan, and all without explanation. Then the unraveling continues: Michael dies in a rock-climbing accident, leaving Chess not quite a widow, but devastated, guilty, unreachable in the shell of herself. Birdie invites her younger daughter Tate (a pretty, na™ve computer genius) and her own bohemian sister India, whose husband, world-renowned sculptor Bill Bishop, killed himself years ago, to Tuckernuck for the month of July, in the hopes that the three of them can break through to Chess. Hunky Barrett Lee is their caretaker, coming from Nantucket twice a day to bring groceries and take away laundry (idyllic Tuckernuck is remote—no phone, no hot water, no ferry) as he's also inspiring renewed lust in Tate, who has had a crush on him since she was a kid. The author jumps between the four women—Tate and her blossoming relationship with Barrett, India and her relationship with Lula Simpson, a painter at the Academy where India is a curator, Birdie, who is surprised by the recent kindnesses of ex-husband Grant, and finally Chess, who in her journal is uncoiling the sordid, sad circumstances of her break with normal life and Michael's death.
Hilderbrand's portrait of the upper-crust Tate clan through the years is so deliciously addictive that it will be the"It" beach book of the summer.
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