The Beach House | 
 enlarge | Author: Jane Green
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $11.97
You Save: $12.98 (52%)
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Rating:  118 reviews
Sales Rank: 183
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.5
ISBN: 0670018856
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780670018857
ASIN: 0670018856
Publication Date: June 17, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The perfect title for the perfect beach read from the New York Times bestselling Author
Jane Green is one of the preeminent authors of women s fiction today, and with each new novel, her audience grows. Green s avid and loyal fans follow her because she writes about the true-to-life dilemmas of women and The Beach House will not disappoint.
Known in Nantucket as the crazy woman who lives in the rambling house atop the bluff, Nan doesn t care what people think. At sixty-five-years old, her husband died twenty years ago, her beauty has faded, and her family has flown. If her neighbors are away, why shouldn t she skinny dip in their swimming pools and help herself to their flowers? But when she discovers the money she thought would last forever is dwindling and she could lose her beloved house, Nan knows she has to make drastic changes.
So Nan takes out an ad: Rooms to rent for the summer in a beautiful old Nantucket home with water views and direct access to the beach. Slowly, people start moving into the house, filling it with noise, with laughter, and with tears. As the house comes alive again, Nan finds her family expanding. Her son comes home for the summer, and then an unexpected visitor turns all their lives upside-down.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 113 more reviews...
 Chick lit, beach read trash September 7, 2008
newswriter
Of course, if you're into chick lit, "beach read" crap like this, this book's for you. This makes the Nancy Drew and Boxcar Children series' I read in second and third grade sound like Kafka.
I haven't read anything this shallow and boring in a very long time. The characters have fewer dimensions than paper dolls and the plot is stolen from a variety of bad after-school or Lifetime specials. Spare yourself.
The Beach House...A perfect retreat September 7, 2008
J. Cowardin (Atlanta, GA)
I've read many of Green's more whimsical and easy flowing novels, yet this read was a pleasant surprise as it tackled some of life's more serious situations. This novel introduces you to several extremely different characters, all changing and evolving, and how their current situations bring them together and learn to help one another at a serene location that refreshes all of their souls. Smiles and tears were had throughout the entire story, and a warmth in my soul and an optimistic outlook on life and knowing that no matter what, there is a reason....was had as I closed the back cover. A sweet and tender ride.
 Impressive # of Characters September 7, 2008
Living thru the Pages (Peters Township, PA)
The book started off with a very full cast of unique characters - but then it got hard to separate them - they were all unhappy - they all wanted something different - most were impervious to the feelings of others (of course except for Nan - Super Goddess.)
As the book progressed the characters became shallow - and some of the storylines were hard to give any credibility to - and Nan in the midst of all of this just did not have the "Mary Poppins" magic to pull it off.
The author has a very good imagination - and started off with a complicated plot line - the charactes as presented were just too flat and not compelling.
 Love It!! September 6, 2008
A. McNamara (White Plains, NY)
I loved it!! This is my first book that I have read from Jane Green. I just ordered 2 more books of hers. I can't wait to get them. This book had a lot of little twists. A great read!
From S. Krishna's Books September 6, 2008
skrishna (http://www.skrishnasbooks.com)
Wherever Nan Powell goes, whispers seem to follow. At 65 years old, she is one of the older residents of the `Sconset area of Nantucket and has quite a reputation around the island. Everyone thinks of her as the eccentric older woman who has lived alone for far too long. While not quite as crazy as she seems, Nan has indeed been alone for a very long time. Her beloved husband, Everett, committed suicide after racking up an enormous gambling debt, leaving Nan to pay his bills and care for their young son, Michael. Now, Michael is living in New York and has trouble finding the time to visit his aging mother.
One day, Nan's financial advisor comes to her with some dire news: all the money she put in a hedge fund is gone. Her best option now is to sell her property on Nantucket (called Windermere), which is worth several million dollars. As Windermere is the only thing she has left of her dear Everett (she had to sell off the rest of the property in order to pay his debts), she can't bear the thought of losing the house. Therefore, she comes up with a brilliant plan: she will rent the rooms and run a B&B for the summer, inviting people into her home and slowly watching them become a part of her family.
While The Beach House's central character is Nan, there are multiple storylines that slowly weave together to form a coherent whole, much as the various persons in the novel gradually come together to be Nan's family. There are Bee and Daniel, a married couple with two beautiful young daughters who are having marital issues, though it is hard to determine exactly what the problem is. And then Daff and Richard, and their daughter, Jess, who has difficulty coping with what her parents are going through. And then there's Michael, Nan's son, and his complicated relationship with his married boss, Jordana. Green tells all these stories seamlessly; there is no jarring disconnect, as happens so often in novels with multiple storylines.
Green's talent is evident, and shines through in her writing of the characters in the story. By the middle of the book, the reader is invested in each of these characters; it is important that they work through their problems and find a happier place. And at the end of the book, the reader is sad to leave these characters, to not be able to enjoy more of their stories.
The Beach House is the perfect beach read. It is a drama, and is very serious in some places, but it is never a heavy book. It never drags the reader down or makes the reader feel as if he/she has an added weight on their shoulders. Instead, even at the most dramatic moments, it is hopeful and uplifting - a breath of fresh air. It helps to redefine the genre of "beach read;" these books are no longer complete fluff with a lack of depth. Instead the nuances in The Beach House serve to give us a new view of beach reads (and women's fiction in general). It is Green's best work to date.
Originally published at Curled Up With a Good Book
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