A Beach Wish
by Shelley Noble
Paperback: 384 pages
William Morrow Paperbacks (June 25, 2019)
New York Times bestselling author Shelley Noble returns to the beach in her latest summer read about the family we create and the wishes we make that can shape us.
Zoe Bascombe has never said no to her family. When she blew her Juilliard audition, she caved to their wishes and went to business school. But when her mother dies and leaves instructions for Zoe to spread her ashes at a place called Wind Chime Beach, she defies her brothers and starts out for a New England town none of them has ever heard of and discovers a side of her garden club mother that her wildest dreams hadn’t imagined.
Zoe has another family.
Her first instinct is to run home. Instead, she is caught in the middle of her feuding new relatives. With one family fighting among themselves and the other not speaking to her, Zoe must somehow find a way to bridge her new life with her old.
For the first time in her life, Zoe must make a stand for her family—both of them. If only she can only figure out how.
Her answer lies at Wind Chime Beach where for generations people have come to add their chimes to the ones already left among the trees. And when the wind blows and the air fills with music, their secrets, dreams, and hopes are sent into the world. There’s a message for Zoe here—if she has the courage to open her heart.
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
Zoe took a quick last look in her rearview mirror, where her family appeared as a perfectly framed photo for a bare second before dispersing out of frame. Like an Etch A Sketch drawing turned upside down.
Actually I’m, uh, working remotely.” Just a little white lie. Just reshuffle the words and you had “I’m not remotely working.”
A feud, star-crossed lovers, an angry old rock star, and a missing hotel proprietor—it’s just like Shakespeare in the Park without the mosquitoes…
He whipped off his hat. His hair sprang out like a ballerina’s tutu from a totally bald head.
Stupid, really, that even though she was currently unemployed, she was still herding relative strangers. Ha. Relative strangers. Strange relatives. Yep. She had plenty of both.
My Review:
This multi-textured tale was filled with long-held secrets, small-town corruption, a forty-year-old feud, adorable elderly hippies, a greedy and menacingly villainous ninety-year-old matriarch, and loads of complicated and turbulent family dynamics and drama; it was a tasty summer treat that didn’t require a cooler and supplied its own sand. Upon her mother’s death, Zoe was tasked with the errand of spreading the ashes on an unfamiliar beach, which lead to a multitude of challenges and earth-shattering revelations about her mother as well as herself. The storylines and writing were observantly insightful and engaging while laced with uncertainty and emotional tension as well as shrewdly placed snippets of wit and levity. My curiosity and interest were well engaged and I enjoyed the unusual premise as much as the peculiarity and vagaries of the diverse and large cast of compelling characters. This was my first time sampling the clever wordplay of the divine Shelly Noble yet Goodreads lists twenty books and novellas to her credit, where have I been?
About The Author
Shelley Noble is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Whisper Beach and Beach Colors. Other titles include Stargazey Point, Breakwater Bay, and Forever Beach—a story of foster adoption in New Jersey—and four spin-off novellas. A former professional dancer and choreographer, she lives on the Jersey shore and loves to discover new beaches and indulge her passion for lighthouses and vintage carousels. Shelley is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Women’s Fiction Writers Association.
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