Pieces of Blue: A Novel

by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Overview

A Best Book of Summer (The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post)

"Bursting with humor, chaos, and raw tenderness." —Oprah Daily

"Pieces of Blue is a brilliant and bighearted page-turner." —Maria Semple, New York Times bestselling author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette

From New York Times bestselling author Holly Goldberg Sloan, a compelling and heartfelt novel for fans of Maria Semple and Emma Straub about a family trying to restore a ramshackle beachside motel—and their own lives

What good was thinking the future only held cloudy skies? Wasn’t the reality that pieces of blue were always there, waiting to break through?

When Paul Hill drowns in a surfing accident, his broken-hearted wife, Lindsey, and their three children are left in huge financial trouble. Once Paul’s life insurance finally comes through, Lindsey impulsively uses the money to buy a charmingly ramshackle motel in Hawai’i, hoping for a fresh start. Teenage Olivia quickly develops a crush on a handsome but monosyllabic skateboarder. Twelve-year-old Carlos reinvents himself as a popular kid named Carl. And Sena, the youngest, will do whatever it takes to protect her beloved motel chickens.

But while the kids adjust, Lindsey is flailing, trying to pretend she knows how to bring a motel—and herself—back to life. Then a handsome stranger rolls into the motel parking lot, and she’s surprised to feel a long-dormant part of herself stirring. She accepts his offer to help, unaware that he may have secrets of his own. And all the while, out in the Pacific, the trade winds are fiercely blowing.

Funny and tender, full of twists and turns and heart, Pieces of Blue is a portrait of an irresistible family learning to start over.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250847317
Publisher:	Flatiron Books
Publication date:	08/06/2024
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	417,336
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Holly Goldberg Sloan is the author of eight books for young readers, which have been translated into thirty-two languages. Her novel Counting By 7s was an E.B. White Honor book and has sold over one million copies. The mother of two sons, Holly lives with her husband in Santa Monica, California. Pieces of Blue is her debut novel for adults.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Pieces of Blue

A Best Book of Summer (The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post)

A Most Anticipated Book (Oprah Daily, LitHub, BookRiot, Library Journal, SheReads, BookReporter, BookShop)

“A fast-paced, atmospheric charmer…The novel’s best feature is Sloan’s poignant and amusing glimpses into the children’s interior lives as they grieve and build new lives for themselves.”

—The New York Times Book Review

“A book about grit and healing, Pieces of Blue is a celebration of the sharp turns families are often forced to make, and how the knots make you stronger.”

—Washington Post

"Bursting with humor, chaos, and raw tenderness, Sloan’s portrait of grief is as refreshing as it is unflinching."

—Oprah Daily

“As tropical storms so often change course, catching those in their paths unprepared, Sloan has crafted a novel that is as surprising as it is haunting…Pieces of Blue reminds us that if one stands long enough under a dark, ominous sky, some much-needed light will eventually shine through.”

—Wellesley Magazine

“A heartfelt page-turner… With a setting so perfectly crafted, these characters are able to live and breathe on the page, which makes for fast reading that never loses your attention… Pieces of Blue is every bit as big-hearted as her books for young readers, but with a keen, sharp sensitivity that gives the same amount of weight and attention to its adult characters.”

—BookReporter

“Big-hearted…[A] warm and welcoming story of a family's emotional and often humorous recovery. Sloan skillfully balances the perspectives of Lindsey with each of her three children, imbuing the characters with the kind of personality details and gentle eccentricities that have made her family dramas shine. But undergirding these tender characters and their individual and collective turmoil is a winking sense of humor that reassures readers that things for the Hill family will work out—despite some unexpected (and they are unexpected) twists along the way.”

—Shelf Awareness

“Empathetic yet flawed characters navigating deep, painful problems add authenticity to the resonant story, and the mystery of Paul’s disappearance keeps things tense. Readers will devour this in one sitting.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Sloan writes about the entire family with energy, insight, and humor.”

—Kirkus

“Pieces of Blue is as propulsive as it is observant and atmospheric. Sloan understands her characters deeply, and makes us need to know what happens to them. In fact, a lot happens to them, and we want to know it all. This novel is a family story, a love story, and a mystery. I couldn't put it down.”

—Meg Wolitzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Female Persuasion

"Pieces of Blue is a brilliant and bighearted page-turner."

—Maria Semple, New York Times bestselling author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette

"I loved this book! Pieces of Blue is a poetic, lush and poignant portrayal of a wounded family seeking healing, love and redemption."

—Gigi Levangie, New York Times bestselling author of The Starter Wife

“Struggling with grief, daring to hope, and working to make a wild, gorgeous, and mysterious place their home, each beautifully drawn character comes alive and finds a way into your heart. Pieces of Blue is a powerful, tender novel with a mystery at its heart. Don’t miss it!”

—Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six

From the Publisher

03/13/2023

Goldberg Sloan (I’ll Be There) captures the resilience of a widow seeking to provide stability for her children in this emotional contemporary romance. After Lindsey Hill’s husband, Paul, disappears—and presumably drowns—in a surfing accident, Lindsey untangles the financial fallout of Paul’s struggling tech company’s demise and takes a chance at rebuilding her family’s life by buying a remote Hawaiian motel, sight unseen, with Paul’s life insurance money. The angst of solo parenting three children—14-year-old Olivia, 12-year-old Carlos, and seven-year-old Sena—coupled with a lack of experience at motel management proves difficult. Enter Chris Young, who stayed at the motel with his wife before she died from cancer and offers to help Lindsey make some much needed repairs. Lindsey is surprised to feel the spark of attraction long missing from her life—but nothing is as simple as it seems, and Chris has some secrets of his own. Empathetic yet flawed characters navigating deep, painful problems add authenticity to the resonant story, and the mystery of Paul’s disappearance keeps things tense. Readers will devour this in one sitting. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House. (May)

Publishers Weekly

2023-02-24
What starts as a typical self-empowerment novel about a family attempting to start a new life in Hawaii after tragedy takes some unexpected noirish turns midway through.

Two years after her husband Paul’s drowning in Oregon, Welsh-born Lindsey Hill moves with her three children to Hawaii, where she’s purchased a motel—sight unseen—with life insurance money that's finally been paid out after Paul's surfing death was ruled accidental. Still grieving Paul, Lindsey is also contending with the chaos his financial failures caused in the months before he died. Sloan writes about the entire family with energy, insight, and humor (like the physical comedy surrounding the aged Crown Victoria that Lindsey rents the first day, crashes before exiting the rental agency’s parking lot, and ends up buying). Of course the Mau Loa Motel turns out to be beautiful but more run-down than Lindsey expected; of course she is emotionally numb until a handsome stranger shows up and helps with repairs while stirring her heartstrings; of course 14-year-old Olivia has trouble adjusting to high school until she meets a boy and his brother, while 7-year-old animal lover Sena is uber-precocious and 12-year-old Carlos is a sensitive pleaser who covers his own pain while protecting the others. Slowly they start recovering in all the conventional ways before Sloan shifts gears to include elements of crime fiction. Unfortunately, the plotting, while less predictable than a standard domestic dramedy, becomes more stilted as the male characters, who never quite gel, take prominent roles. It turns out that the men in Lindsey’s life have not always been what they seem, a truth her children figure out before she does. A raging storm bearing down on the motel with everyone inside becomes the novel’s piece de resistance and raises the stakes for everyone involved, including readers, before a disappointingly easy denouement.

An often enjoyable but uneven mix of romance, domesticity, and action.

Kirkus Reviews