Nancy Thayer’s latest novel, The Guest Cottage, is a charming summer book. Set on Nantucket, it’s the story of two people escaping their troubles, only to find family, and each other.
At thirty-six, Sophie Anderson has been content to be the perfect wife, the perfect hostess, and the perfect mother. But, when her successful husband announces that he’s in love with someone else, she asks what about the children. He points out that she’s more concerned with their two children than she’s in love with with him. She begs for time, and rents a house on Nantucket for the summer, to give her time to absorb the changes, and to protect her fifteen-year-old-son and ten-year-old daughter.
Trevor Black is a thirty-year-old widower with a four-year-old son, Leo, who seems to be having problems dealing with his mother’s death, although Trevor was always the stable one in the family, the stay-at-home father. So, sight-unseen, Trevor rents a house on Nantucket to find a refuge, an escape where he can spend time with Leo. When Trevor pulls up to the island retreat, he finds Sophie’s family already in residence. It seems two cousins each rented the house to a friend, without informing the other. So, Sophie and Trevor establish a few ground rules, and decide to try living in the house for two weeks.
Thayer’s novel is about family, and discovering what makes a family. It’s about two people finally forced to honestly face their own past history. It’s a delightful story of a summer escape, the lazy days of a beach vacation. And, it’s a romance between two grownups, discovering there is life after the first love of your life.
Looking for a summer novel that captures the magic of the beach, family and love? Nancy Thayer’s The Guest Cottage is a light, enjoyable treat.
Nancy Thayer’s website is www.nancythayer.com
The Guest Cottage by Nancy Thayer. Ballantine Books. 2015. ISBN 9780345545510 (hardcover), 321p.
*****
FTC Full Disclosure – The publicist sent me a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.
I've read other books that I really enjoyed by Nancy Thayer. I'm looking forward to reading this one too – perhaps this summer – perhaps when winter comes here. I seem to be flipflopping the fictional temperatures. Reading cold in the hot and might read hot in the cold. LOL
That will work, Kay! Take you away from the outside world.
Having summered on Nantucket for several years, I was excited to read this novel. I thought it fell short on substance, and although it brought out the characters quite perfectly,the story itself was preposterous. 3 weddings amongst strangers is stretching it even for Nantucket.
Ah, but it's a beach read, Terese, and how many of them really have much substance?