I took myself to the beach a few weeks early with my sixteenth selection – can’t believe I’ve been doing this for four months now! Beachcombers by Nancy Thayer is an unapologetic beach read, exactly what I needed as finals attempt to take over my brain (key word is attempt – SVU marathons will always win in the end).
The story of three sisters brought together by a mental breakdown, Beachcombers is a Nicholas Sparks-esque novel complete with cheesy dialogue, inexplicably fast-moving plot lines and, of course, a happy ending. When Abbie, the motherly oldest sister, gets word that Emma, the quintessential “middle child,” has had a mental breakdown, she leaves her job in London to return to her childhood home in Nantucket. Turns out Emma has lost her fancy job along with her fancy boyfriend, her fancy clothes, and her fancy thousands of dollars she was saving for their struggling father. After five years spent apart, Abbie and her youngest sister Lily attempt to get Emma out of her childhood bed and back into the real world. Spoiler alert: they end up a closer, happier family for their struggles! Didn’t see that coming.
Though I do absolutely love to mock books like these, there was something refreshing about this fairy tale-like story after a few stressful weeks with no happy ending in sight. So for those of you ready to tear your hair out as finals week looms, be sure to pick up Beachcombers – or dust off your favorite Nicholas Sparks.