Want a NOOK? Explore Now
Abbie, Lily, and Emma, Sort of
subject:HELP!
from:Lily
date:June 5, 2009
to:Abbie
Oh, Crabapple, I hate it when I can’t reach you by phone. Where are you? Why isn’t your cell phone on? Would you please please email me right away? We’re all in a mess here and we need you to come home.
subject:But don’t panic.
from:Lily
date:June 5, 2009
to:Abbie
Disregard that last email. Well, don’t disregard it completely, but no one is dead or anything. It’s just that Dad’s in financial trouble, plus a sexy woman’s after him, and Emma lost her job AND Duncan broke off their engagement. Emma came home from Boston and just lies on her bed, crying all day long. She’s so thin, I’m kind of scared for her. I’m trying to keep up with the house and everything, but my crazy busy season’s started with the magazine. And I guess you’d better not call me, because you’re six hours ahead or behind or whatever and I probably can’t talk when you can plus I know you hate the expense of a transatlantic call. Just please, please, come home.
subject:Help
from:Abbie
date:June 5, 2009
to:Lily
I’ll email Emma today. But honey, isn’t it about time Dad had a girlfriend? Mom’s been gone for fifteen years. He’s probably lonely. And maybe you’re overestimating Dad’s money problems. I mean, everyone’s having trouble this year. Has he told you he’s worried about money?
from:Abbie
date:June 5, 2009
to:Emma
Hi, Emma, what’s going on? Lily tells me you’re back home. God, you must be desperate. I Email me, let me know you’re okay, okay?
subject:The Playhouse
from:Lily
date:June 5, 2009
to:Abbie
Dad hasn’t said he’s worried, but he acts worried, and he’s rented the Playhouse (to that woman, wait till you see her!), plus he said he might put the boat up for sale. And I know a lot of the people who’d hired him to renovate their houses have canceled. I can see with my own eyes how little work there is for him this summer. I think if you were here, he’d talk about it. I know he thinks I’m still a baby.
subject:Please
from:Abbie
date:June 7, 2009
to:Emma
Just send me one little email, okay? You don’t even have to say anything. Just hit reply!
subject:I’m coming home.
from:Abbie
date:June 8, 2009
to:Lily
I’ve got a reservation on British Air. I’ll be home tomorrow. Probably around three, if my connections go smoothly.
Chapter Two
Marina
So here she was, on Nantucket. In a small rented cottage in the middle of an enchanted island. At least she hoped it was enchanted. She was waking to another day without family or love or plans for the future.
Still, she felt just a bit better.
Lying curled in her bed, she forced herself to name just five things for which she was grateful. It was an exercise Christie had advised her to perform first thing in the morning and last thing at night. If nothing else, Christie had told her, it will give you a little bit of structure, one tidy line to start the morning and end the day to make you feel enclosed and on task.
All right then.
Marina was grateful that she’d slept through the night without needing a sleeping pill. She’d been afraid she was becoming addicted to them. Over the past few months, the divorce had plunged her into a state of grief and despair that at night turned into a raging anger and a kind of burning terror—what was her life about? Did she mean nothing? But here on the island, for the past three weeks, she’d discovered that something in the sea air worked like a charm to make her fall into a deep, relaxing sleep. Christie had been right to tell her to come here to heal.
Two—well, she was grateful she’d found the cottage. It resembled a dollhouse, with wild roses rambling all over the roof and clematis and wisteria blossoming on the trellis on the outside walls. The windows were mullioned like a fairy-tale cottage. The door was bright blue. Inside, one large room served for living, dining, and kitchen areas. A ladder led up to the loft with the bed. Windows on three sides provided views of the birds nesting in an apple tree on her right, a pine tree on her left, and a hawthorn tree straight ahead.
Inside, the décor was—well, there was no décor, actually. The few furnishings had a cast-off and shabby air, but were basically sound and comfortable. No curtains hung from the windows. No paintings graced the walls. No rugs brightened the floors, but she could understand that. It was so easy to track sand into the house, and the floors were wood and felt cool and smooth to the soles of her feet.
She was grateful to be in the heart of the town. That was the third thing, and it had been on her list every morning and every night. The cottage was off an idyllic lane in the illustrious historic district. She could walk to the grocery store, the pharmacy, the post office, the library. Tucked away at the far end of a long garden, it had once been the Playhouse for the family that had grown up in the huge old house at the front. The owner and one of his daughters lived in the house. Their presence made Marina feel not so alone. She liked seeing the lights come on in different rooms of the house. The daughter, Lily, was pretty, but not very friendly. Well, she was only twenty-two. Marina must seem ancient to her.
Jim Fox, on the other hand, was really nice. He’d brought her fresh fish several times already, and often in the evenings when he came home from work, he jumped out of his red pickup truck and sauntered down the lawn to chat with her. Did she need anything? If she did, she had only to ask, he’d be glad to help. Had she enjoyed the bluefish? Would she like some more when he went out fishing again? He was so attentive that Marina sometimes wondered if he were hitting on her. She doubted it. She was sure she wasn’t giving off any sexual vibes, since her sexuality was hiding under its shell like a wounded turtle. Although she could still recognize that Jim was an awfully attractive man, tall, muscular, and comfortable enough in his powerful body to be easygoing and kind.
Fourth, she was grateful for Christie’s enduring, sustaining friendship and especially for her wisdom this summer.
Odd, how things turned out.
Long ago, when she started seventh grade, Marina had teamed up with two very different best friends. Christie was her good friend, pretty, cheerful, popular, and smart. Dara was her exciting friend, always ready to try something new and outrageous, more sexy than good-looking. They remained best friends when they all started at the same gigantic university in Columbia, Missouri, but by their sophomore summer, things changed. Christie and Marina decided to go off to Nantucket to work as waitresses. They’d heard that the pay was good, the island was gorgeous, and they could party like crazy on their time off. Dara couldn’t believe they were going to be waitstaff—she considered such a job way too far beneath her. She didn’t need the money the way Christie and Marina did, and she went off with other college friends to backpack in Europe.
Marina and Christie had so much fun, they returned to the island for the next two summers. During the academic year, they still spent time with each other, but Dara ran with a new, fast crowd, and the trio was never the same after that. After graduation, they went their separate ways. Dara wanted money. Marina wanted to turn her love of color and design into a career. Christie just wanted her high school sweetheart, Bob.
Christie married Bob right after college—Marina was her maid of honor. A few years later, when Marina married Gerry Warren, Christie was Marina’s matron of honor, lumbering down the aisle, eight months pregnant. After that, Marina had seen little of Chris?tie. Their lives were so different, and they were so busy. Christie and Bob lived in happy chaos with their hundreds of children—really, only an eventual five—on a lake outside Kansas City.
Marina and Gerry met in college. He was handsome, with thick, straight blond hair and sapphire eyes. He was smart, too, and witty. At first she thought he was just a bit too smug and shallow, but he wanted Marina, he pursued Marina, and his varied and creative attempts to charm her were irresistible. Perhaps she didn’t love Gerry, but she was helplessly seduced by his desire.
Their ambitions were similar, too, and that drew them together as a natural pair. He was a dynamite salesman; she was artistic and creative. Marina and Gerry started a graphic design/ad agency in the Kansas City area. They invested their own time and some start-up money borrowed from their parents, and they worked day and night. For a few years, work was the very air they breathed. They established themselves, grew a name, became successful, and paid back their parents. They bought a condo and the posh cars they displayed as ads for their success—a Jag for Gerry, a Saab convertible for Marina. But somehow, as the months and years went by, they never found time to relax. They were like a clock, their lives the two hands ticking around the face of the day and night, with never a second to stop.
From the Hardcover edition.
Beachcombers is the story of three sisters who come back home to Nantucket for the summer. Lily - the youngest sister - emails Abbie - the oldest sister - to come home because she is concerned about Emma who is going through a nasty breakup as well as their father, Jim's financial issues. Jim rents out the girl's childhood playhouse to Marina who is recovering from a divorce. Their mother had formed the Beachcombers Club with them when they were children, teaching them to look for something more in the sand and in life. After she had died when the girls were young, Abbie tries to take over the role as mother as best she can. As adults, each of the women are in need of hope and healing, and the beautiful setting of Nantucket seems to be just the ticket. On their arrival back to Nantucket, the girls seem to fall back into their appointed roles as sisters. Nancy Thayer does an excellent job describing beautiful Nantucket - I could almost feel the sand between my toes. Lily drove me nuts! She enjoyed her role as a society reporter just a tad too much which made her come across as shallow to me. One of my favorite characters was Millicent Bracebridge, an elderly woman Emma was hired to read to every day. She was very wise and full of grand advice. I wouldn't mind spending an afternoon reading Agatha Christie to her, one of her favorites. I loved every minute I spent reading this novel. Each chapter is told from one of the women's perspectives but the story flows very nicely. I enjoyed the dynamics between the four women and the people they encounter over the summer. There were enough twists and turns to keep me reading. This book is a great summer read - not too demanding but quite enjoyable.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.NookloverJJ
Posted September 1, 2011
Great book! Couldn't put it down! Can't wait to read other books by Nancy!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.leigh9834
Posted September 6, 2011
Love the author, liked the book. Could have done w/out Lily always whining, but overall a good book.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted June 30, 2011
Loved this book! Enjoyed following each character's story, thought it was original and well writen.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Sharon_Waldrop
Posted February 11, 2011
All four of the romances in this book developed way to fast and were unrealistic to me, making the storyline a bit corny. Since when does a man propose to a woman who isn't even his girlfriend yet, or who they haven't dated?
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.In Nantucket Lily Fox sends urgent emails to her globetrotting older sister Abbie to come home as the family is in crisis. Their widower father is in financial trouble and is seeing a sexy woman Marina Warren whose husband dumped her for her friend. Their middle sister Emma has come home from Boston hysterical having lost her job and fiancé Duncan. Lily insists depressed Emma is emaciated lying in bed all day crying.
Abbie comes home to be there for her family during the crisis as they all had been years ago when their mom died. Sibling rivalry remains heated, but each seeks some contentment. The oldest opens a jobs finding service; the middle sister struggles to find equilibrium; while the youngest is a society reporter. Even Marina seeks proof she remains in middle age a worthy female.
The four women take turn narrating the warm family drama. Each of the females brings baggage as they have issues with one another while musing on their pasts. Although there is some redundancy as expected by the sibling narrations, the four feisty females find their respective summer groove as Nantucket Beachcombers.
Harriet Klausner
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 7, 2013
I highly recommend this book.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Junipermom91
Posted February 5, 2013
sweet story
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 28, 2012
These girls waste no time jumping in bed with a man. I almost gave up on this one as the storyline is so slow to develop. I could have written the ending myself.
The author comments about growing up in Wichita, KS and that Kansas was a dry state. I also grew up in Kansas. What are you talking about Ms. Thayer?
6264438
Posted December 30, 2010
a good look into thd heart. a eminder to not assume, nor think you know what someone elase is thinkinv amd going through.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted September 14, 2010
Enjoyed reading this while sitting at the beach in Texas. Keeps you interested in what will happen to the girls next.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted September 12, 2010
I picked this book up at my local B&N store, perusing the new releases and looking for a good "end to summer read". This satisfied my desires.
With so much happening before we fully know the cast of characters, and each character carrying their own "suitcase" with them, the author did a fantastic job developing the plot and helping readers fully understand each of the characters. It was a quick read, one that I could not put down, and I would recommend this to others.
Liked the plot and setting of this book. Three sisters all gather back in their childhood home on Nantucket when they learn their widowed father has a new love interest. They all have their own problems and complexities that are tested during the summer months. The characters were well-developed and you felt like you were right at the beach with them. My biggest issue with Thayer is her dialogue! 20 and 30 somethings do not talk the way she makes her characters do! The conversations are sometimes so trite and contrived that it sometimes just made me laugh. A good read for the beach or the pool!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 14, 2010
I Also Recommend:
I have enjoyed Nancy Thayer's books for several years. But, I feel that after the "Hot Flash
Club Books", which were enjoyable, but, in my view, a different style from her other books, I feel her writing has declined a little. By this I mean that the plot was so predictable - each sister, and the woman renting the cottage, met and quickly fell in love with someone, which just doesn't happen in real life. But that's also what made the book an enjoyable read, and hard to put down because it was interesting enough that I wanted to see what was going to happen next. There were some surprises, so overall I am happy with the book and will continue to follow her novels.
A very enjoyable beach read. The author does a graet job pulling you into the story and brining out the personality of all her characters. I definately recommend reading if you want a light summer read.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.ethel55
Posted June 10, 2010
I Also Recommend:
Thayer once again takes us to a summer on Nantucket Island, this time embroiled in the lives of the three Fox sisters. Youngest sister Lily emails oldest sister Abbie to come home to help navigate the trials of middle sister Emma, who has lost her job and fiance in one swoop. The three girls fall somewhat predictably into their old family roles once they are together under one roof. The baby of the family, Lily, seems especially stymied by the presence of her older sisters. There is a fourth voice in the novel as well. Marina has just divorced and in re-evaluating her life, has rented the Fox "playhouse" for six months. The girls seems disturbed by their father's interest in this renter and the possibilty of his living his own life. The stories work together well, and there is some interesting Nantucket history included too. All in all, this was a good read to kick off summer.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 3, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted July 27, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted April 16, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted December 16, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
Abbie Fox hasn't seen her father or two younger sisters in almost two years, during which time she has jetted around the world and experienced life, if not love. But now Lily, the baby of the family, is sending Abbie urgent e-mails begging her to return home to Nantucket. Their middle sister, Emma, has taken to her bed, emotionally devastated after the loss of her high-powered stockbroker's job and a shockingly unexpected break-up with her fiance. Also, Lily is deeply worried that Marina, the beautiful, ...