Product Description

The perfect title for the perfect beach read from the New York Times bestselling Author

Jane Green is one of the preeminent authors of women’s fiction today, and with each new novel, her audience grows. Green’s avid and loyal fans follow her because she writes about the true-to-life dilemmas of women—and The Beach House will not disappoint.

Known in Nantucket as the crazy woman who lives in the rambling house atop the bluff, Nan doesn’t care what people think. At sixty-five-years old, her husband died twenty years ago, her beauty has faded, and her family has flown. If her neighbors are away, why shouldn’t she skinny dip in their swimming pools and help herself to their flowers? But when she discovers the money she thought would last forever is dwindling and she could lose her beloved house, Nan knows she has to make drastic changes.

So Nan takes out an ad: Rooms to rent for the summer in a beautiful old Nantucket home with water views and direct access to the beach. Slowly, people start moving into the house, filling it with noise, with laughter, and with tears. As the house comes alive again, Nan finds her family expanding. Her son comes home for the summer, and then an unexpected visitor turns all their lives upside-down.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1319 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

About the Author
Jane Green’s novels Second Chance and To Have and to Hold were New York Times bestsellers. Swapping Lives, The Other Woman, Bookends, and Babyville all appeared on The New York Times extended bestseller list for hardcover fiction. Jane was recently awarded the Fun Fearless Fiction Award by Cosmopolitan magazine.

From AudioFile
The life changes of four couples could make for a fractured listening experience, but Cassandra Campbell's narration seamlessly unites all the characters. Her even delivery sweeps listeners into the story of strangers who, while sorting themselves out at Windermere, a Nantucket beach house, become family. Sixty-five-year-old Nan, facing financial ruin, revives when she takes in roomers who have surprising connections���to each other and to her past. Campbell's reading, though smooth, doesn't lack for full emotional explorations of characters, whether they're divorcing, coming out, or falling in love. With equal aplomb she dramatizes the rages of a 13-year-old with newly divorced parents. Listeners will have a hard time turning off this guilty pleasure. S.W. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

It was OK
The book was definitely not one of her best. I found the characters too 1-dimensional and the plot was somewhat predictable.

Fun, beachy read
I loved this book. I wasn't surprised, as I am a huge Jane Green fan, and this book did not disappoint. The book was so richly detailed that you feel like you're right there on Nantucket! Bottom line, if you're looking for a deep, philosophical read, this ain't it, but if you want something fun and engrossing, pick up this book!

I was hoping for more...
I have loved Jane Green for a long time. The books are always very hit or miss for me. I have really loved most of the older books, but the new ones are starting to lose their spark. It started out well, and I liked reading about all of the different characters that would end up at this beach house, but...somehow, it seemed to fall apart in the middle, then tied up in this perfect bow at the end.

Nan is not your usual older woman. She takes skinny dips in others pools, she wears colorful clothing, and she likes to have a great time. She lives in a huge house in Nantucket, with a husband who died long ago and a grown son far away. She hopes to fill her house with life again, and with impending debts that won't go away, she decides to rent the rooms in her house.

Daniel is an unhappily married man with a secret. He does love his two little girls, but he's not in love with his wife. Bee knows something is wrong, but she doesn't know what it is...yet.
Michael (Nan's son) is satisfied with making jewelry for his life's work, but he can't seem to stick with a relationship. When he gets tangled up in a web of deceit, he decides that now is a good time to escape to his mom's house again.
Daff found out that her husband cheated on her, but she doesn't want him back anyway. They are having trying to raise their daughter Jess, but Jess is having a tough time and she turns into a little girl when her father is around.

There seems to be a lot going on in this novel, and I was reminded of Marian Keyes, who is able to juggle so many characters, yet spin a great story. Unfortunately, this book is not quite up to that level.

I was also a little bit frustrated that even though this book takes place in America, there was a lot of "English slang" in it that an American wouldn't say, such as, "Do you fancy him?" At first, I let it slide, but it happened at least 5 or more times.

It seemed like there was a lot of conflict and drama right up until the middle of the story, and then...it ended so perfectly for almost everyone, it just didn't seem realistic.

I really wanted to like it, but it was just average for me.