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Nantucket itself, not counting the tourists, is a close knit community. Four couples are year-round residents and the best of friends: Ed & Andrea, Jeffrey & Delilah, Addison & Phoebe, Greg & Tess. They do everything together: holidays, weekends, fantastic vacations, everything. Andrea and Tess are cousins and their close relationship forms the heart of this group of eight, who call themselves "The Castaways." They have been together for years, through all of the ups and downs of life.Lately, there has bit quite a bit of down. Greg is a music teacher at the high school and one of his students accused him of making advances. He denied it, of course, but Greg is a movie-star handsome musician and even his close friends, in their heart of hearts, believe him capable of it. So things have been rough, especially for Tess, but she and Greg are working through their issues and have planned a romantic sail to Martha's Vineyard to celebrate their twelfth anniversary.
Tragically, there is an accident during their sail, the boat capsizes and they are both drowned. Ed, the police chief, is left to deliver the devastating news, first to his wife and then to the rest of the group. The deaths of Greg and Tess rock the remaining six friends to their cores, exposing the hidden secrets and the cracks beneath the surface of their relationships. Grief is a process, affecting each of them in different ways and forever changing their bonds with each other.
This interesting novel explores the complex emotional ties of the friendships of couples, which differ greatly from any group composed of just one gender. The narrative switches between the six remaining Castaways as they reflect and remember their lives, process their feelings and try to move forward. The characters were all interesting and I liked the way their relationships were woven together to form the story as a whole. It's a perfect summer read, a great combination of both lighthearted fun and heartbreaking darkness.
For more information about the author and her books, please visit her website. There you will find book club information, "The Castaways" cocktail recipe and much more!
This review is part of a Blog Tour, for a complete list of participating blogs, click here. Many thanks to Miriam at Hachette for the book and adding me to the tour!
The Castaways
is published by Little Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-04389-2.
13 comments:
The book is a wonderful look into group dynamics. I also enjoyed the suspense.
I'm touring this tomorrow and I thoroughly enjoyed it - it's more complex than I expected it to be.
Glad you had fun with this one!!
Sounds like a great read!
Nice review! I thought this novel was really well done too!
I just received this one and I'm looking forward to reading it. Great review!
This book really sounds like something I would enjoy...heartbreak, soul searching, and a great beach setting! Thanks for the great review:)
This does sound good - please enter me. :)
This sounds really interesting, and I love that it's set in a tourist town. I live in a tourist town myself,and there's definitely a different feel to it compared with where I grew up. I might have to give this one a try.
I am really glad you liked this one, and I think it would make the perfect lounging on the beach read. Great review!
This book has gotten such mixed reviews everywhere I have read about it.. I think I have entered in a drawing for this book somewhere so if I get it I will just have to give it a go and see if it sits as well with me as it does with you. I don't know if I would really like the relationships going crazy like they supposedly do, but the worst thing that could happen is I give the book to someone else who may like it more :)
I just became a Tome Traveler follower.
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