DUNE ROAD (Jane Green)

This is an interesting novel because it is so immediate, so timely. Several of the characters are immersed in personal problems that are directly connected to our current financial crisis. This is women's fiction, not a Wall Street thriller, but the author does an excellent job of creating a realistic and entertaining picture of how our failing financial system affects the affluent families who have over-extended themselves and how the culture of the rich reacts when one of their own loses everything. The novel is set in Fairfield County, CT, where Green lives, so the resident famous author, elite shops, and private schools are realistic and the characters are believable.

The main character in Dune Road in this novel is Kit, a divorced mother of two whose supposedly happy marriage succumbed to her husband's focus on his successful career in the city and subsequent neglect of his family;'s emotional needs. Kit's 2 best friends are Charlie, another Wall Street wife, and Tracy, who owns and runs a popular local yoga studio. As with any good women's fiction, everyone either has a secret or is oblivious to the fact that their world is about to come crashing down. Is there romance? Of course, but it's not the focus of the novel. Is The story realistic? Who can say. Is the ending satisfying? Yes. I enjoyed Dune Road and other fans of Jane Green, Nancy Thayer, or Elin Hiderbrand will as well.