“A first-rate storyteller who creates believable, sympathetic characters who seem as familiar as your neighbors,” (The Boston Globe), Barbara Delinsky presents a captivating new novel about a woman whose unexpected reunion with her estranged family forces her to confront a devastating past in A Week at the Shore. One phone call is all it takes to lure Mallory Aldiss back to her family’s Rhode … Aldiss back to her family’s Rhode Island beach home. It’s been twenty years since she’s been gone–running from the scandal that destroyed her parents’ marriage, drove her and her two sisters apart, and crushed her relationship with the love of her life, Jack Sabathian. Twenty years during which she lived in New York, building her career as a photographer and raising her now teenage daughter Joy.
But that phone call makes it clear that something has brought the past forward again–something involving Mallory’s father. Compelled by concern for her family and by Joy’s wish to visit her mother’s childhood home, Mallory returns to Bay Bluff, where conflicting loyalties will be faced and painful truths revealed.
In just seven watershed days at the Rhode Island shore, she will test the bonds of friendship and family–and discover the role that love plays in defining their lives.
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This is a beach story, but so much more! Barbara Delinsky never fails to incorporate lessons about life into her books, and this little gem is no exception. Mallory travels home to Bay Bluff, Rhode Island, taking her daughter Joy with her because Joy wants to find her family roots. There, Mallory encounters her sister Anne and her father who suffers from dementia, possible Alzheimer’s. Anne owns a small breakfast restaurant and has cared for their father for the last twenty years. Mallory calls NYC home and is a photographer for real estate brokers. The third sister, Margo, is married with two sons. All three sisters are together for the first time in two decades and the reunion is one of many memories, good but many bad ones. Mallory is trying to navigate the waters of broken relationships with her sister Anne and with their neighbor Jack. She is also determined to solve the mystery of the death of Jack’s mother Elizabeth, a victim of a boating accident involving Mallory’s dad. I thought that the story was slow-paced and deliberate, kind of like the ocean’s tide. The story unraveled just as the sea leaves debris on the shore. There were little pieces everywhere that I had to keep reading to find all of the truths about the relationships and the secrets that everyone had held in for so long. The element that kept the family together and brought some light to the story was Joy, an energetic teen who just wants to get to know her Papa Aldiss and her Aunt Anne. Joy is like a supporting character in a movie without which the movie could not have been made. I liked her character the best because she was honest and up front about everything. I enjoyed the story, guessed the ending easily, and felt comfortable with the beach setting. What I did not like was that the mystery that was referred to throughout the tale was not really resolved. Reflecting back on that, however, I see that Ms. Delinsky was also teaching a lesson there. Not everything in life can be wrapped and tied up with a bow. There are some things that are unresolved at times. The lesson I enjoyed the most was to remember the past, cherish the present and look forward to whatever the future holds. A trite lesson to be sure, but no one teaches a lesson in a novel with more finesse than Barbara Delinsky! I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys women’s fiction, but I will add the disclaimer that it is not a completely clean read because of expletives and extra-marital sex scenes.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements.”
This book was not really for me. I found it hard to get into. This book is told from a first person point of view, I wish the author would have included to people telling the story at least even if she kept it FPP. They say anything could happen in an instant and I feel like that sums up this story lots of different scenarios and some twists and turns to me sometimes it was almost like the author didn’t know where to go so she through something out there and it stuck. Some of the story was good, I really liked Joy she was a pistol and was fun to read about. There is sex and adult language in this book and may not be suitable for all. I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley. I was under no obligation to post a review and have given my honest opinion.
Heartwarming, sentimental, and sweet!
A Week at the Shore is an intimate, moving tale that sweeps you away to the beautiful Rhode Island coast in summer and immerses you into the lives of the Aldiss sisters, Mallory, Anne, and Margo, as they confront the past, accept the things they cannot change, take chances, repair fractured relationships, and embrace the future.
The prose is emotive and fluid. The characters are troubled, stubborn, and compassionate. And the plot is a tender tale about life, loss, love, forgiveness, secrets, responsibilities, familial drama, parenthood, friendship, hope, ageing parents, and second-chance romance.
Overall, I found A Week at the Shore to be another heartwarming, uplifting, nostalgic tale by Delinsky, complete with strong female characters, a heartfelt storyline, and an insightful look into the complex, unbreakable ties that bind us as family.
This richly imagined page-turner considers three sisters—their touchpoints and disconnects—who struggle to find a way through grief and determine how to move forward as the grown-up renditions of themselves, flaws and all, and what being family truly means.
Barbara Delinsky is excellent at writing about family drama. And this book does not disappoint. When you factor in the mystery aspect, this makes for an entertaining read. The family relationships are fraught with emotion. I fell in love with Mallory’s daughter, Joy. She helped bring healing and a sense of fun and excitement.
This is Barbara Delinsky at her best and I highly recommend you add this to your to-be-read list.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
Barbara Delinsky does it again! She put me inside this family with her words so I could feel and think and see their lives.
It is a magnificent story about three sisters and each of their lives. There is everything in this book from love- betrayal- family- secrets and how it all fits together to give a story that will stay with you long after you have read the last sentence.
Thank you to NetGalley, Barbara Delinsky and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC to read and review.
Barbara Delinsky has come through with a great summer read!! This one has all the requirements and more. A beach, a little romance, a mystery, a dysfunctional family, heartache, A DOG and oh, my…. family secrets and MORE family secrets!
This story follows the main character as she returns to her family home and is forced to confront the secrets in her past.
Great novel that has many layers. Sisters estranged over an incident 20 years ago, a father losing his memory, a possible crime, an old love, is there a gun threat, each way you turn there is a new thread to follow. As you read, you think you have almost figured out part of the story but just wait, no that is not it.
I have read almost all of Barbara Delinsky’s books and can honestly say her book plots never repeat. Her photography interests are clearly present in this plot and she truly has the ability to paint a picture with words. Her descriptions are so vivid you can almost smell the sea, feel the heat from the sun and experience the sand between your toes. She captures your attention quickly yet slowly leads you into the mystery of this story and lets it evolve.
A Week at the Shore by Barbara Delinsky has Mallory Aldiss, a real estate photographer, heading back to Bay Bluff, Rhode Island with her daughter. Mallory dreads returning to her hometown, but she is worried about her father after receiving a disturbing phone call. Joy, Mallory’s thirteen-year-old daughter, is thrilled to finally visit her mother’s hometown. Joy wants to connect with her grandfather and aunt who live there. Soon, Mallory’s older sister, Margo arrives, and it is a full-fledged family reunion. Mallory will finally have to deal with the memories and feelings that she has kept suppressed for the last twenty years. Seven days in Bay Bluff is a chance to spend time with her family and forge a new future. I was expecting a breezy summer novel when I began A Week at the Shore. This story did not feel as if it was written by Barbara Delinsky. I struggled to get through this book (it was a chore). The characters felt flat and lifeless except for Joy. Joy did not act like a teenager most of the time. It seemed as if Joy ran the household instead of Mallory. Mallory (I did not like her) was all over the place. I wish the author had taken the time to introduce the main characters in the beginning (what I call “setting the stage”). The author tackles various subjects in A Week at the Shore. There is no subtlety. I felt like each issue was being attacked with a sledgehammer. There is a sweet pit bull in the story and Mallory goes on a rant about their dangers, etc. I am not sure what Jack saw in Mallory (or what she saw in him). The pacing in A Week at the Shore is slow (I have seen snails move faster) and it lacked a good flow. The mystery of the missing woman was disappointing. The ending was rushed (if you get that far), but it was better than the rest of the book. While I have enjoyed other novels by Barbara Delinsky, this one was not for me. A Week at the Shore is a dramatic family tale with a missing woman, a father’s illness, an old boyfriend, and sisters.
Really enjoyed this heartwarming, action packed, emotional family adventure filled with engaging charters, witty and fun dialog, heart racing twists and mysterious family secrets that need airing…. Great reading.
After a tragedy that ended in the death of a neighbor, Elizabeth, 20 years ago, two sisters, Margo and Mallory, left town while Anne, the youngest, remained. Now, after receiving a disturbing phone call from the neighbor’s son, Jack, who was also Mallory’s high school sweetheart, she returns with her 13 year old daughter, Joy. What really happened all those years ago, and will the sisters finally discover the truth before it’s too late?
“Every memory is real, but not all are based on fact.”
A Week at the Shore was absorbing in many ways. Not only does it delve into the complexity of real and raw family relationships, but it also includes a bit of a mystery surrounding the long ago accident. There were some twists I did not see coming, and despite the page length, it was a fairly quick read. Lastly, since I’m a sucker for stories about young lovers reuniting later in life, I was touched by that aspect as well.
Location: Westerly, Rhode Island
I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
What a great book! I was brought right in with these characters. I felt their pain and their joy. We’ve probably all had that feeling that we just didn’t quite belong. How awful it must have been to have to “pick a parent”. Unfortunately, divorce does that to kids. So unfair that that can pull family’s apart. I think you’ll enjoy reading how these three sisters, Margo, Mallory and Anne handle the ups and downs of their lives. I loved the way this story read. The characters are great and I was right there with them, for the good and the bad. There were a couple of surprises that I was not expecting, but that just made it all the more interesting. I hope you enjoy it also. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.
A good read about a woman, Mallory, who returns to her hometown for a week to check on her father who has Alzheimer’s. She and her former boyfriend, Jack, try to solve the mystery surrounding his mother’s disappearance twenty years ago. There are many secrets that come out of this dysfunctional family. I received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my honest review.
What really happened that night twenty years ago that destroyed two families? The Aldiss family, Tom, Eleanor and their three daughters, Margo, Mallory and Anne lived next door to the Sabathian family in Bay Bluff, Rhode Island, a small coastal town. Eleanor and Elizabeth MacKay Sabathian first met in college, and Elizabeth’s son Jack, was Mallory’s first love. The lives of the two families had been entwined for decades. All of that changed in one fateful night.
Mallory Aldiss (the main character), now 39, is photographer for a high-end realtor and lives in New York City with her 13-year-old daughter Ivy. Mallory hasn’t been back to Bay Bluff in twenty years. A phone call from Jack who still lives in his family home soon changes that. Her father, a retired judge from Rhode Island’s Superior Court is suffering from dementia/Alzheimer’s. Though his youngest daughter Anne lives with and takes care of him, Mallory feels that Anne isn’t realistic about her father’s health, and if what Jack says is true, Tom is a danger to himself and others. She feels she has to go back and check things out herself. She is dreading the trip, while Ivy is very excited to finally meet her aunt Anne and her grandfather.
Anne, 38, runs a restaurant in town. She loves her father deeply, and resents that her sisters left town and have never been back. When Margo, who now lives in Chicago with her husband and two sons, hears that Mallory is in Bay Bluff, she too decides to go back.
The week that follows is an eventful one. The sisters find themselves struggling to address both long-buried and current feelings and issues, deal with their father, and regain the connection they once had. Can they make peace with the past and move forward as a family again?
Barbara Delinsky is known for her well-written prose, her true to life characters, and her emotive plot lines. A Week at the Shore supports that legacy. This is a very entertaining read and I highly recommend it.
My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions stated are my own.
Beautifully written story about sisters, lost love and a daughter becoming reacquainted with her mother’s family and friends.
A Week at the Shore is another story filled with heart and family by Barbara Delinsky. I’ve always enjoyed this author’s books and if you like them or books by Debbie Macomber you’ll probably love this.
The characters are well rounded, real seeming and ones that I found myself empathizing with. I loved the interactions between the two sisters and Mallory’s daughter.
Thank you to Netgalley, the pubisher, and author for approving my request for an ARC. All thoughts in this review are mine and freely provided.