Beach Roses

poignant drama

An anonymous benefactor is willing to contribute to a wellness center if the residents of Martha¿s Vineyard show they want it. Doctor Hastings comes up with the idea of a breast cancer support group to show how much the center is needed and asks Rita Blair-Rollins to be the head of it. She reluctantly agrees because she wants what is best to help see her three charges through their ordeals. Katie is a teen-age rock star who won¿t start treatment until she gives birth to her baby; her father, who molded her career, doesn¿t want to recognize his daughter¿s different priorities. Hannah, has to emotionally support her weak husband and wild fifteen-year old daughter while she is undergoing chemotherapy. Faye, a Boston businesswoman, thinks she has nothing to live for now that her cancer has reoccurred. These four women share their trials and triumphs and in the process form a bond that can never be broken. If the audience seeks a happily ever ending, BEACH ROSES is not the book to read. However, the plot provides courage and hope when survival seems dimmer than a black hole. These intrepid women cannot ignore their troubles, but find faith with one another and some other caring friends. Jean Stone writes a poignant drama that focuses on human triumph during the most traumatic faults and frailties. Harriet Klausner

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

To thump thump

Arielle now lives in rwsult 13

Melodramatic

I had mixed feelings about this book. It took me awhile to get in to it, and only after I decided to read it on it’s own terms could I get engaged in the story. I think the author would have gained more sympathy for her characters if she had limited the number of issues and gone into more depth with the few, given the length of the book. I never really “felt” the severity of the cancer because I was distracted by other concerns being constantly tossed in my face. For the kind of problems Stone introduced, the book needed to be much longer to flesh out all the twists and turns. Maybe they would have seemed more realistic then. Despite my criticisms of Beach Roses, I did finish the book! I cared enough about the characters to hope the ending was happy for them. I cared enough that I wanted to know more about them.