A former beauty queen faces the secrets of her past—for herself and the sake of her family’s future—in a heartfelt novel about fate, choices, and second chances.Everything seemed possible in the summer of 1951. Back then Betty Stern was an eighteen-year-old knockout working at her grandparents’ resort. The “Catskills of the Midwest” was the perfect place for Betty to prepare for bigger things. … bigger things. She’d head to college in New York City. Her career as a fashion editor would flourish. On the precipice of a well-planned life, Betty’s future was limitless. She’d enjoy this wondrous last summer at the resort falling deeply in love with an irresistible college boy and competing in the annual Miss South Haven pageant.
Now the choices of that long-ago season still reverberate for Betty, now known as Boop. Especially when her granddaughter comes to her with a dilemma. It echoes Boop’s own past of first love, broken hearts, and faraway dreams. It’s time to finally face the past—for the sake of her family and her own happiness. Maybe in reconciling the life she once imagined with the life she’s lived, she’ll discover it’s never too late for a second chance.
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An easy, nostalgic read that was just the thing to keep on my nightstand when I needed to escape the reality of the current news cycle: In THE LAST BATHING BEAUTY, Amy Sue Nathan transports you to simpler days on the Michigan shore—another place, another time, with characters who feel real—in friendship, in love, in family and loyalty and compromises and decisions and dreams, all of it bittersweet. The ending was just what I hoped for, even as the sigh of what might have been lingered. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an early peek.
This was so much fun to read! Written in a twin timeline, I was swept back to the 1950’s in a family resort where everyone knew each other, and community was paramount. Admittedly, it gave me Dirty Dancing vibes and I was all for it. These were the kinds of vacations that I never had, nor did my parents, so the entire reading of this book was an escape. I loved the lost love/second chance just lovely and perfect.
This book is a delightful read about a place I knew nothing about. Of course I’ve read books and watched movies about the Jewish resorts in the Catskills. Who hasn’t seen Dirty Dancing? But, I’d never known that a similar culture existed in South Haven, Michigan. I loved learning about this place through the eyes of Betty (Boop) Stern Peck. The story is told with dual timelines, one when Betty is about to head off to college at Barnhard, and the other when she is in her eighties, recently widowed and trying to figure out how to live the rest of her days. Betty is a wonderful character, sweet, spunky and flawed, and I loved seeing her life unfold on the page. Her story is bittersweet and full of secrets, surprises and unexpected turns. I truly enjoyed this one.
A thoroughly enjoyable, past-and-present tale of a life-changing summer and its echoes decades later. This story has it all — great characters, sensory-rich settings, and a sweet salute to believing in second chances. The finale will have you cheering.
Amy Sue Nathan is a true storyteller, and The Last Bathing Beauty is her best book. It’s an epic tale of family, secrets, loss, marriage, betrayal, friendships, laughter, and regrets.
This wonderful new novel by Amy Sue Nathan is all about the ‘what ifs’ of life — the days we all look back on and wonder how out lives would be different if only we had chosen another path. It’s full of friendship, love, family and regrets. I have read and enjoyed all of the books by this author but this one is my new favorite. First, because it takes place in Michigan along the Lake Michigan shoreline near where I spent all of my summers growing up. Second, it stresses the importance of friends, not only as teenagers but real lifelong friends.
This is a dual timeline novel about Betty at 18 ready to go to college and begin her life. She and her two best friends enjoy themselves as Betty joins the pageant to become Miss Grand Haven and more importantly she falls in love with a college student. The other timeline is Boop (as Betty is now called) now in her 80s and looking back at everything that happened during the summer of 1951.
I loved the characters in this novel especially Betty/Boop. This was a real coming of age novel, even though she is in her 80s, it’s never too late to reconcile current life and memories. I loved the friendship between the three lifelong friends and the love that they felt for each other. Often in a dual time line novels, one story will be more interesting than the other but in this novel, I enjoyed both story lines and enjoyed Betty as a teenager as much as Boop as an older woman. Betty wanted more out of life than becoming a wife and mother, even though that was the goal of most women in the 1950’s. She is a strong woman in her 80’s and she and her friends show that life can be as exciting for women at any age as long as she has her friends.
This novel is set in the 1950s and in the present time period. During the 1950s, Betty lived with her wealthy grandparents. She was expected to behave in a certain way. But she falls for a young man who they don’t want to accept. Now it’s years later during the present time and the past is brought back up. Betty’s granddaughter is visiting. Betty wants to help her granddaughter with her life. But at the same time, her granddaughter will actually help her to deal with her life and what happened back when she was younger.
The Last Bathing Beauty by Amy Sue Nathan. This book, set in the 1950s, gives a fascinating look at the beachside resorts on Lake Michigan.
(4.5 Stars rounded up)
A beautifully penned glimpse into the 1950s, readers are first introduced to Betty on her wedding day in a prologue that makes it clear the impending nuptials are anything but a typical celebration. This was a far more emotional read than expected for me. Amy Sue Nathan is a new author to me but I am absolutely going to be reading her backlist.
I typically don’t care for books that use POVs to catapult readers from past into the present and then back again. If I didn’t like Boop so much, I would have struggled with the book far more. I was so invested in the story that I ended up having to drink a cup of tea every time I picked it up to read to settle my stomach. The tension that builds as the story inches toward the moment when Betty’s life changes permanently proved nearly overwhelming for this reader. That inevitable implosion wreaked havoc on my stomach. A whirlwind romance mixed with immense obstacles made a perfect storm for heartache.
While I love 1950s fashion, I know next to nothing about life for women in the 50s and even less about the expectations and lives of Jewish families. The author had me intrigued from the very start, wondering what I would do in a similar situation. I still think about it. The friendship between Betty and her friends was heartwarming as it is realistic. I do wish we had more time with them in the younger year POVs because I enjoyed how comfortable they were with each other, especially in the later years. The day-to-day at the resort definitely intrigued me more than I thought it would! I grew up long after the time of yearly family vacations to giant resorts but the author had me wishing for that experience, both the vacationer side and as an employee.
If you are looking for a historical fiction outside of the war-related stories that will grab you and not let go, I highly recommend The Last Bathing Beauty. A slight bit of domestic tension, an extended glimpse into life in the classic 50s at a resort, but most of all it is a coming-of-age tale that reminds you that things take work and that sometimes it all works out. It has been a few weeks since I finished this book and I still think of and talk about the story with friends and family and bought a final copy for myself. If that isn’t an endorsement, I don’t know what is.
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Easy summer read. I enjoyed it because that’s the era I grew up in. Makes you realize that though life was more simple, women were definitely limited and had to work hard to break out from what was expected of them.
As a senior woman I appreciate characters with age, wit, and wisdom.
I love a book in dual time lines and Amy Sue Nathan gets the gold ring for this one. The Last Bathing Beauty is a scrumptious read that will pull at your heart strings. A story of first loves, family, dear friendships, secrets, and second chances that sets you in 1951, as if it truly was that year, and present day with a grandma you’ll wish was your own.
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book. I knew it would be a light read filled with love and laughter. But it has so much more. It’s a story that will make your heart fill, make it ache, make it beat fast and make it break. This is my first book by Amy Sue Nathan and I was not at all disappointed. It had so much going on that I could not put it down. Turning the pages to see what happens next and having such deep emotions is what makes a book great. This book is great.
Betty was a teen who seemed to have it all. She lived with her grandparents who adored her and gave her all they could. They owned a resort and Betty worked helping them out and had many friends. Two best friends who shared everything. The summer of 1951 was the best and worse year of Betty’s life. She fell in love, she competed in a beauty contest, she married and she got pregnant. But she had planned on going to New York and going to college. Becoming a fashion editor and living the dream before marriage and a family. She planned on marrying the love of her life and living happily ever after with him. But time was not in her favor. The year was a time when she would make hard decisions and give up her dreams for something else. She married and had a child. She fell in love with her husband and had a good life. But it wasn’t the life she planned.
Betty married Marvin and became Boop. Marvin had always called her Boop and thus it stuck. They had a long and happy marriage. Boop’s granddaughter comes to her with a big problem that is much like the one Betty faced when she was eighteen years old. The difference here is Boop stood by Hannah where Betty’s grandmother didn’t. As much as she loved Betty she thought she was doing what was right. Betty had a different plan and things did work out ok. Betty/Boop lived a good life but still you get the feeling something has been missing all these years. As she tells Hannah her story in 2017 this book goes back to 1951 and so much is revealed to Hannah. Things that will help her to move on with her life and have the love she so desperately wants.
This story is told in two different timelines and is done to perfection in my opinion. The things that happen in the 50s make you glad you didn’t have to go through that kind of thing. Women were truly not treasured very much. I mean that they had husbands who were more their bosses then partners. They had not choices in many things, including having babies, marrying for love, going to college. Having a life. It was unfair but was how it was. Betty/Boop had a good life but not the life she could have had if her grandparents would have stood by her no matter what. If they would have considered her feelings and not just how it might look or how things were being Jewish. It didn’t seem like love was to be the most important part of their arrangement for her. She did what she had to and did find a happiness eventually. Love did happen.
This book is such a good one. Filled with love that is found, lost and found again. Family who should be there no matter what and isn’t always. Friends who know all there is to know about each other with a couple of secrets thrown in but found out late in life. Betty/Boop at age 18 then at age 84. I enjoyed this book so much and hated for it to end. Though it ended with perfection. I loved this story. It’s one that will lift your spirits while bringing big tears to your eyes too. It made me laugh and cry. I had some serious tears in places. The characters are all very likable and so well developed. The storyline will keep you turning pages and rooting for love. It’s a very serious but also a lighthearted book.
Thank you to #NetGalley #LakeUnion, #AmySueNathan for the ARC of this book. This is my review as I see it.
A big 5 stars and very high recommendation..
This was a joy to read, it’s fun & entertaining and has the old beach bingo vibe! So great to relive Betty’s younger years, the good and the bad. Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ebook copy. This is my honest review.
The Last Bathing Beauty is an emotionally gripping story that captivated me from page one. Amy Sue Nathan knows how to thread the past and present together in a way that readers won’t soon forget. A moving tale about second chances and the fathomless depths of true love.
In this reimagining of Dirty Dancing, Nathan demonstrates expert storytelling when we meet the charismatic Betty ‘Boop’ Stern as a young woman, and also as an eighty-four-year-old as she looks back on a difficult choice that altered the path of her glittering future. Told with empathy and lyrical prose, The Last Bathing Beauty is a winning tale of friendship, regret, and second chances with a ring of endearing and spirited women at its heart.
For those who believe in happily ever after, Amy Sue Nathan’s The Last Bathing Beauty is a real winner. She has spun a heartfelt tale about romance, heartbreaks, friendship, and the wisdom that comes from living a life with no regrets. Told with tenderness and humor, readers will love this journey back in time with Boop and the girls.
The Last Bathing Beauty is a pitch-perfect summer read, starring Betty ‘Boop’ Stern, a plucky heroine with a tackle box full of secrets and enough regret for a lifetime. Using dual timelines, Nathan expertly unravels the events that derailed Betty’s sparkling future in 1951 and continue to haunt her even as an eighty-four-year-old woman. Full of characters that shine and told with compassion and humor, this is women’s fiction at its best.
I liked the characters but thought they (the main and the more incidental ones) could have been more developed. The book seemed long as certain interactions seemed to be repetitive and became a bit tiresome.
3-1/2 stars: I loved the setup of this book, and I really enjoyed reading it, but I think it fell short of its potential. In the opening scene, Betty is about to get married, with very mixed feelings. Then we see her in her 80s, after a long marriage, still connected to her lifelong friends. What happened in between? The rest of the book alternates between the summer that led up to Betty’s decision to get married, and her present-day self facing those memories. For this to work well, we need to believe there was something strong and enduring about Betty’s summer romance – but while the relationship is appealing, I wasn’t convinced that those feelings would necessarily extend beyond the intensity of the moment. In a similar way, Betty’s lifelong friends are appealing, but not developed enough to be more than two-dimensional (maybe even one-dimensional in Doris’ case). Because the characters are fairly superficial, the resolutions come a little too easily as well. What is drawn richly, however, is the setting: a vacation resort in South Haven, on the shores of Lake Michigan, run by the heroine’s grandparents. Author Amy Sue Nathan does a wonderful job of capturing the lives and culture of the Jewish families who owned or visited resorts like these in the 1950s (think of the Catskills resorts in “Dirty Dancing” or “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”). It’s another place and another time, and we can see how these things would have shaped our heroine – I just would have liked a little more depth.