The Castaways

After lamenting that I had nothing to read, I was saved by my UPS man and the people at Little Brown publishing.

Last summer, I was able to read and review A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand, which I really enjoyed. When I was asked if I’d like a copy of Hilderbrand’s newest novel, The Castaways, I said sure! I knew there would be no twenty-something career girls roaming the streets of NYC or London to irritate me.

Elin Hilderbrand lives, breathes and writes Nantucket. A look at any one of her book covers implies that. I was curious about the title, and the story didn’t disappoint.

The Castaways is the name of a group of friends–four couples who aren’t native to Nantucket, but have called the island and each other home for a long while. Each couple has a unique history, and because Nantucket is a small place, a history with each other.

The story opens as one couple, Greg and Tess, have capsized on a sailing trip, dying and leaving their young twins without parents. The rest of the story revolves around finding out more about their rocky relationship (sure, it looked like an accident, but was it?), the couple’s relationships within their groups of friends, and how that tight-knit group handles their grief at such a shocking loss.

As much as the setting is rather somber and depressing, the book is not. The book illustrates friendship that is deep and true, friendship amongst adults that spans years of good times, and friendship that weathers the bad times. It made me think of my group of “couple” friends, and how devastating it would be to suffer a loss like this. Island living, love affairs and excessive drinking/pill taking aside, this could totally be my group of friends.

As with the other Hilderbrand novels I have read, this book begs to be taken along in a beach tote and read at the nearest beach or pool. It’s a perfect summer read that doesn’t disappoint.

So, What Are YOU Reading??

I’m afraid I’ve outgrown a genre. I can no longer pick up books about twenty-something career girls who have a defunct love life, who want to be writers/editors/fashion desingers, who live in NYC, Chicago, LA or London, who have best friends who have their act together, who some how get inspired to do start being more affirmitative with themselves and then have Great Things Happen.

I just can’t.

Up until last summer, I still enjoyed those kinds of books. I grabbed two such pieces of chic-lit at the library last week, and about 50 pages into each, I lost interest.

SO. If you are over, say, 28 and are a fully-functioning grown up (or appear to be), tell me, what are you reading this summer???

Oh, and hey, if you like yogurt, check out my giveaway on the post below!

What are you reading???

I’m in need of a good summer read–nothing too deep or serious…..we are going to the library a lot this summer, but of course we are mostly in the children’s section. Our library system has a program where you can request books and they will pull them for you, which is how I’ve been getting any books at all for myself lately (besides browsing the new titles right by the checkout). Any and all suggestions are appreciated!