Beachcombers: A Novel (Random House Reader's Circle)

This is an engaging book to read at the beginning of fall when summer has just passed. The setting of Nantucket is described in detail during the height of the tourist season when things get crowded and sometimes annoying for those who live their daily lives year-round on the island. The story centers around the three Fox sisters, Lily, Abbie, and Emma, who are all back home for the summer months and living with their father in their childhood home. Danielle, the girls' mother, died when they were young, and since Abbie is the oldest she took responsibility for raising her two younger sisters. Lily is the only one who has stayed in Nantucket, but now Abbie and Emma are home because Emma has lost both her job and her fiance and is bedridden with grief. Lily has called Abbie to come back home out of worry about Emma and also out of concern that the pretty woman who is renting the little cottage on their property might just have her eye on their father, Jim, still a widower.Marina, the woman in the cottage, has gone through a divorce after her husband left her for her best friend. Going to Nantucket for several months has been her time to try to heal and to get her life back in focus. The cottage that Marina is renting from Jim Fox was once the playhouse of his three daughters. It's small, but suits Marina's temporary needs. Lily is the youngest and least mature of the Fox sisters and clashes with Marina about her friendship with Lily's father.During the course of the summer, all three sisters fall in love, but with men who may not be available to them for one reason or another. I'm not a romance reader, but I found the interactions among the three sisters to be interesting and heartwarming, especially since I don't have a sister, and the advice they gave each other about their men was surprising to me at times. Abbie's story, to me, is the best and the most intriguing and interesting, and I loved the relationship between Emma and the older lady, Mrs. Bracebridge, who had Emma read to her several days a week. It was a realistic and comfortable relationship. Lily is still young and a bit superficial, wanting beautiful clothes and jewelry that she saw on wealthy people at the social events she sttended as a photographer for a local magazine.All of the characters in the book need attention and healing from some of life's hard knocks. They are needy in the sense that they need validation that they are worthy of being loved and able to finally let go of old hurts and start on a fresh path in their lives. All of them need to accept each other as they are and without anyone else's approval."Beachcombers" by Nancy Thayer is fun light reading for anyone who likes stories that take place near the sea or especially in Nantucket where the author lives and knows the island well. The story goes fast and I found it good escape reading, and a few of the characters are memorable women.Women, especially, should enjoy this book.

Abbie, Emma, and Lily Fox are grown women, but their ties to their father and their Nantucket Island home are strong. Even though the two older sisters have moved out to establish their own homes, and despite the fact that the motherless sisters have been apart for awhile, all it takes is an e-mail message from one of them to bring the troops home.Home is where their father Jim lives, along with twenty-two year old Lily.Recently, Emma has burrowed into the nest, after a shocking betrayal by her fiancé. She has lost her love, her business, and her condo. Since her return home, though, she has curled up under the covers to mourn.Abbie, as the oldest sister, is the one who mothered the other two when their mother died...Even though Abbie was only fifteen when it happened. But Lily's e-mail message to Abbie, begging her help, is not just about Emma. Their father has rented out the "playhouse" to a woman, and he seems entirely too interested in her.Marina, the woman renting the cottage, has her own pain and loss to overcome. Her husband fell in love and impregnated her best friend, which is especially painful, since Marina has been trying to get pregnant for years. So she, too, is licking her own wounds on the island that summer.We meet each of the women in turn, during one unique summer; the chapters reveal bits and pieces of their lives, their attitudes, and their feelings. By the time the story has moved into gear, we've gone a long way toward really understanding each of these characters.Abbie may be just a bit overly protective of the others, but that is starting to change. She is especially less permissive with Lily, the "baby," which irritates this youngest sister.Emma's depression is worrisome to the others, primarily because it evokes old and painful memories of their mother, Danielle, who spiraled downward into a dangerous depression just before her death.Each of the women begins to discover herself and to form new attachments...to people they've met through their jobs and through their renewed connections in the island community. Will Abbie finally let go of her extreme sense of responsibility for the others and form her own attachments? Will she fall in love? And what about Emma? Will she get past the pain of her lost love and begin again? And what will it take to make that happen? Lily seems so totally self-involved, that one could almost believe that she is the most free from constraints. But the past begins to intrude and remind her, as well as her sisters, that sometimes pain and loss accompany family attachments.I thoroughly enjoyed  Beachcombers: A Novel  and how the author portrayed the personal choices and transformations that each woman must make, conveying that life moves on and people can heal and grow. This book has definitely earned five stars, in my opinion.

I think it could be sweet story if if the author didn't drown the readers in such an abundance of detail.

This was sold as a new book. It was NOT new. It clearly had been read, several of the pages were stained, and there were food crumbs in the book

A great read for summer! Take it to the beach, kick back and enjoy! Who doesn’t love a wonderful book about families!

I must confess that had i been there, I would have slapped Lily into the next planet. Spoiled entitled brat. Having said that, good fun read. The three sisters worry about dad—mostly lily—who sees dad's renter as a threat. All have issues of their own, and their own blossoming romances, and i enjoyed each and every one. I so wanted a happy ending, but did not want to keep reading and have the book end!

You know how every now and then you just want a simple and sweet book to read? This is the one for you. I've read a few 'chick-lit' books recently that simply failed to deliver, with insipid women who take themselves too seriously. This book was the perfect antidote.The story follows three sisters-Abbie, Emma, and Lily, as they struggle to define themselves after some major changes in their lives. Natives of Nantucket, they all end up at home for the summer, along with their father and a woman appropriately named Marina who decides to rent their guest cottage by the sea.This book goes down smoothly, like a refreshing cold lemonade on a hot summer day. There is really no deep conflict and nothing to upset or get you thinking too deeply. If you want a light summer read that won't bring you down, I recommend it highly.

The compelling descriptions of Nantucket kept me reading. Wasn’t so interested in the family. I thought they were all childish and superficial, even the dad! Marina was my “almost favourite” but even she was immature at times. A slow meandering read which left the overwhelming feeling of “all that for that?”

This was my first Nancy Thayer novel and I loved it. Can't wait to start reading the next one.

Loved the book, loved all the sisters and their various lives, entermingled with love and loss. Great setting on Nantucket Island, just wish I was there! Thayer is good storyteller, her style is relaxed and flowing, the characters very believable. I will certainly be looking for more by this author. Beachcombers was escapism at its best.

Reading this book at the moment, love the descriptions of Nantucket , and the family life , feel like I’m there , a lovely summer read.

Great