Thursday, June 11, 2020

Book Review - A Week at the Shore; Barbara Delinsky



AUTHOR:  Barbara Delinsky
PUBLISHER:  St. Martin's Press
PUB. YEAR: 2020
Setting: Rhode Island
Format: eGalley
Rating - 4/5

Mallory Aldiss is a photographer and single mother to 13 year old Joy. Twenty years early she left Rhode Island and Bay Bluff's beach community when family scandal rocked her world. The scandal ruined her parents marriage and separated Mallory and her sisters. It also caused her to run from Jack Sabathian, a man she loved. Her younger sister and her father, who now suffers from dementia, still live in the beach community as does Jack. When Mallory receives a call from Jack saying that her father had threatened him with a gun, it is with reservation that she and her daughter return to RI to check on her father. By doing so she must confront the painful past which drove her away.

I haven't read this author in decades but, I was quickly pulled into the story: part mystery, part romance and dysfunctional family drama.  The story dragged a little at times, but the setting and mystery aspects kept my turning the pages.  This was one from my 2020 Summer Reading List and I was happy I read it

19 comments:

  1. It sounds quite good and I like the sound of the Rhode Island setting.

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    1. Yes, Kathy, and, of course I'm familiar with RI. Bay Bluffs is fictional but, Westerly is a real ocean/shore town on the southern most tip of RI - it borders CT.

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  2. Sounds pretty good. We'd give a week at the shore a 5 any old day though!

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    1. Yes, many people after too much cabin fever would love "a week at the shore"

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  3. Hi Diane,
    I'm just wondering--Does this book seem a little more serious, perhaps, than some of her other titles? This one sounds interesting to me, and I don't recall that happening to me before with her books. BUT! Mind, I don't know her books, so I may have got her all wrong. I'm really glad you liked it, because it's one I'd like to consider for this summer.

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    1. The mystery aspect was a bit different from what I recall of her earlier works. There is still the romance element which is true of her fiction. It was nice escape for me overall.

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  4. This is an author I've seen around for years but never read. It does sound fun and like a good vicarious beach read for now.

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    1. Katherine yes, I read some of her earliest books and then nothing for about 20 years till this one. Nice summer story.

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  5. I have never read anything by this author, but this sounds like a nice escape read. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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  6. I haven't read Delinsky's work, but this one sounds like it might be a good summer read.

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    1. Yes, Dorothy, the mystery, family drama was nice as I'm not really fond of just a romance story.

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  7. I haven't read this author, but the dementia aspect interests me.

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    1. Yes, it keeps you hooked because at times you were not sure whether the father was lucid or his loss of memory was at play.

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  8. I'd love to be at the shore. I think we all would.

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  9. These kinds of "returning to home" stories are usually pretty enjoyable for me. Especially when it includes a beach setting. I really hope I retire by the water somewhere.

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  10. This sounds like a good summer read that pulled you in right away!

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  11. I haven't read Delinksy in years. This does look fun for summer though.

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  12. This sounds like a perfect summer/beach read - added to my wishlist. Thanks for highlighting this title.

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