Three sisters seems to be the theme of my reading lately! Thayer's "Beachcombers" is set on Nantucket, as expected, where widower Jim Fox has rented his daughters' former playhouse to the recently divorced Marina Warren. The youngest daughter, Lily, lives at home and works for a local publication as a society reporter. She yearns for a more jet-setting life and enjoys the round of parties and social events that her job requires her to attend. When middle sister Emma shows up devastated over the loss of her job, her savings, and a bitter break-up with her fiance, Lily is concerned and contacts oldest sister, Abbie, who has been working as an au pair in the UK. Abbie helped her father to raise her younger sisters after the suicide of their mother when Abbie was 15 years old.
Abbie and Emma, desperately in need of income and concerned about their father's finances, start a company called Nantucket Mermaids, eventually including Lily as well. During the course of the novel their various assignments, including baby-sitting, reading to the elderly, and gardening, provide an interesting glimpse into Nantucket summer life. The sisters themselves lack maturity and direction and at times the sibling rivalry becomes almost annoying, but Thayer has a talent for developing a sense of place so strong that the reader can overlook the sisters' whining and their attitude toward their father and his social life. The ending is just a bit too neat for my taste, but overall this is a great book to take to the beach or read on the porch on a summer evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment