by Dawn Ilsley

Created on: December 05, 2009   Last Updated: November 23, 2010

The Beach House is a book by the popular author Jane Green.  The cover design is simple with the title set against a metallic turquoise background with small nautical illustrations, this really makes the reader think of the seaside.

Jane Green is an English born author who now lives in America. She is synonymous with the chick-lit genre.

Nan is a rather eccentric old lady who lives in a delightful but run-down property, called Windermere, in the exclusive beach island area of Nantucket. She has financial worries that may lead her to leave the home she has loved since the day she first saw it. Her son, Michael, knows that he owes her a visit, but his life as an artistic jeweller keeps him busy. Elsewhere other peoples lives are falling apart.

Thoughtful Daniel has realised that life with his beautiful wife and sweet daughters is not as idyllic as it appears. Stroppy teenager Jess is finding the break-up of her parents marriage hard to cope with and her mother, Daff, feels like a failure. Everybody feels that a change of scenery will help heal the problems in their lives and as they gradually find their way to Nantucket, Nan finds that she, too, benefits from the influx of new people. As their stories unfold will they find the peace they are seeking or are they just running away from their problems?

At 440 pages this is a reasonable length book, but it certainly did not take me very long to read. Although I actually liked the basic storyline I felt that some of the characters were lacking in real personality. Nan was well created, but definitely a little too good to be true, I am not sure that she would have developed the relationships described so quickly, especially considering what we learn of her past. Daff was likable and also believable, but her ex-husband was portrayed as ridiculous in the way he could not see through his daughter's excessive behaviour. Daniel and his wife Bee just stayed too two-dimensional for my liking. When reading, I like to feel that I really get to know the central characters and can almost predict their behavioural quirks, with these two I just couldn't work them out. Michael's turmoils were better described and you could understand his relationships with most people, but I felt that the relationship with his mother was never particularly explored.

Having said all that, I still found this a good read. For holiday literature there is nothing to beat delightful descriptions of sunny days exploring new areas. The storyline was reasonably predictable, but Jane Green managed to throw in just enough twists to make it enjoyable rather than boring. If you are looking for complicated plots and serious dram then this genre will not be for you. However if you want an absorbing read that will have you smiling and dreaming of summer then pick yourself up a copy!

ISBN 978-0-141-02203-1

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