From the New York Times bestselling author of Whisper Beach comes another heartwarming story of four generations of women who reunite in their crumbling family mansion by the sea for a dramatic summer filled with love, family, secrets and sisterhood.The Whitaker family’s Connecticut mansion, Muses by the Sea, has always been a haven for artists, a hotbed of creativity, extravagances, and the … extravagances, and the occasional scandal. Art patrons for generations, the Whitakers supported strangers but drained the life out of each other. Now, after being estranged for years, four generations of Whitaker women find themselves once again at The Muses.
Leo, the Whitaker matriarch, lives in the rambling mansion crammed with artwork and junk. She plans to stay there until she joins her husband Wes on the knoll overlooking the cove and meadow where they first met. Her sister-in-law Fae, the town eccentric, is desperate to keep a secret she has been hiding for years.
Jillian, is a jet setting actress, down on her luck, and has run out of men to support her. She thinks selling The Muses will make life easier for her mother, Leo, and Fae by moving them into assisted living. The sale will also bring her the funds to get herself back on top.
Issy, Jillian’s daughter, has a successful life as a museum exhibit designer that takes her around the world. But the Muses and her grandmother are the only family she’s known and when her sister leaves her own children with Leo, Issy knows she has to step in to help.
Steph, is only twelve-years-old and desperately needs someone to fire her imagination and bring her out of her shell. What she begins to discover at the Muses could change the course of her future.
As Issy martials the family together to restore the mansion and catalogue the massive art collection, a surprising thing happens. Despite storms and moonlight dancing, diva attacks and cat fights, trips to the beach and flights of fancy, these four generations of erratic, dramatic women may just find a way to save the Muses and reunite their family.
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This is a perfect book for fans of multigenerational sagas. Beautifully written, Shelley Noble effortlessly balances drama and intrigue in a story that ultimately reveals the love and sacrifice extant in even the most dysfunctional families.
And if there is one thing every reader will agree upon, it is that the Whitakers are completely dysfunctional. The eldest, Grammy Leo and Aunt Fae, live along the Connecticut coast in an aging mansion and property (the Muses) that once hosted the famous artists and actors of the times. Fae has no children. Leo lost one son years ago (Max), but still has George (who is estranged because of decisions his father, Wes, made) and Jillian, an actress who chose the spotlight over her family for the better part of her adult years.
Jillian has two daughters, Issy and Vivian. She dumped them with her mother when they were children, and Leo and Fae raised the girls at the Muses. Vivian hated it and resented everyone, especially Issy, whom she blamed for their mother’s abandonment.
Issy has lived in the shadow of her sister, and with a question about her own parentage, for most of her life. She’s presently a successful art curator, living and working in New York City, when she gets an emergency call and learns that her sister has dumped her kids at The Muses and taken off, Leo is in the hospital, and the police are considering taking the kids into protective care. Issy, who is not close to her sister or her nieces and nephew, drops everything to go to Connecticut.
When she arrives, she quickly learns that nothing is as it should be. All the money is gone—but no one knows where to, Leo’s lucidity comes and goes, Fae is hiding something, and the kids are frightened. No one can locate Vivian or her husband. And Issy dreads involving George and her mother, Jillian. But involve them she must, because she cannot solve these problems on her own.
The supporting cast, made up of Chloe and Ben, siblings and childhood friends of Issy’s, and Paolo, her assistant, are wonderful and add warmth and humor to the tale. I especially loved Paolo, and would be thrilled to read more about him in a future book.
I do not want to go into more detail about the plot because such spoilers will ruin the reading experience. I will say that, throughout the story, secrets are revealed as they try to find the money and find a solution to save the Muses. In the end, all of the Whitaker women experience personal awakenings of different sorts. Ultimately, Issy’s able to forgive herself and others, find peace and love within her family, find new purpose in her career, and even find love.
A dysfunctional family pulls together at a family seaside mansion when a mother leaves her children with their great grandmother. My favorite part was Aunt Fae and the mystical vibe she brought to the story, particularly at the end.
a wonderful entertaining read
Issy, a successful museum designer, is called back to her childhood home after her young niece called stating Leo, Issy’s grandmother, was in the hospital. Evidently Issy’s sister dropped her two nieces and nephew off at the Muses to stay until she could bring home her conning husband home. As Issy makes her way back to the Muses, the home in which she grew up after her mother dropped her off, she faces many challenges. Her sister’s husband has run off with the family funds, her uncle wants to sell the place and put her beloved grandmother and aunt in an assisted living center, bills need to be paid, and Issy has two weeks to make sure they get to stay. As she makes plans to restore the mansion, she groups everyone together to clean the house and catalog the extensive art collection, she finds a group of willing women and men – her family – to get things done. The family coves together through a storm, feuds, and trips to the beach – four generations – to ensure their chances of remaining at the Muses. An excellent read!
I really enjoyed this book. It wasn’t a page-turner in that there was some big mystery; Just the kind of story I wanted to keep reading and disappointed when it came to an end. I felt the characters were very well developed, each with their own quirks and idiosyncrasies. None overly sappy or ridiculous, each just a great part of the story. I would definitely recommend this book.
Not your typical beach story…old girlfriend reunites with boyfriend.
If you think you’re family is driving you nutty, meet the Whitakers and see what a dysfunctional family is all about!
Poor Issy, an art installer at places all over the world, receives a call to come take care of her sisters children and her grandmother. First of all, where is her sister, why is her grandmother in the hospital and why do the police threaten to put the kids in foster care?
You’ll meet Leo, grandmother extraordinaire, Fae, a bit eccentric but devoted to Leo, Wes,dead but devoted. Issy has best friends Chloe and Ben trying to help her protect the family at the old beach house where Leo and Wes lived, loved, entertained artists, and raised Jillian, Max and George.
As days go by Issy deals with missing money, her actress mom coming home, two children plus Steph, a preteen, and Paolo.
Each person is fully engaging…even at their absolute worst. Everyone is out for themselves..their needs, wants, desires but has to work together if Issy is to save this family.
You feel the sand, the wind, the tall grasses, see the cabins, the town, and sit quietly taking in the bitterness, the heartbreak, the misunderstandings that divide the family. Trust me, some of these people need a kick in the butt…big time.
You have the elderly being threatened with state care, the youngest missing their parents, Steph caught between childish wishes and adult insight and Issy, trying to hold onto her job while dealing with a household of misfits…all family.
Go, sit, read and delight in a family drama full of wit, whimsy and heart…lots of heart. And this book does not throw a happy ending at you, this book takes you on a journey to finding happiness where you can.
A new twist on a family trying to cope with some unusual situations and how they come together to solve a mysterious problem.
I liked it
This was my first novel by Shelly Noble and I enjoyed it very much. There were some parts that were slow but well worth muddling through them.
Four generations of the women of the Whitaker family gather at the patriarch wonderful home on the beach. The home is in jeopardy of being lost and the oldest generation put in assisted living. Some of the generations want to fight to save it. The plot has secrets, mysteries, and new found and old love. The character development is very good and the setting is wonderful. Great for a book club as it has book club questions at the end. Also a good beach read or snuggled up on a cold winter’s day. If you like family sagas I recommend this book.
Easy reading
I really enjoyed the characters in this book.
Wonderful read for the hopeless romantic.
Pathetic what some people do for money. Makes me sad cuz it is so real.
Loved it!
Sad but engaging. Older world meets newer one and the results are almost never pretty. How some care for others and is course some don’t.