Publisher's Weekly Review
What begins as edgy and smart gets stuck in the sand in popular chick lit author Green's (Second Chance) soggy beach read. Richard and Daff separate after Richard has an affair, which plays havoc with their daughter, Jess. Bee and Daniel, who go to therapy to bridge their emotional gap, wind up facing the uncomfortable truth of what really separates them. Middle-aged Michael keeps finding all the wrong women, and Michael's dotty and endearing mom Nan, facing flagging finances, raises funds by letting rooms in her venerable Nantucket beach home, only to have to ward off ravenous developers. There's enough upheaval to keep the tale humming until the cast lands on Nan's doorstep, where, with unrelenting good humor and wisdom, the troubles with couples, families, kids, singles and sexual identity are predictably resolved before the Labor Day exodus. Unfortunately, the payoffs diminish as the story wears on. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
A Nantucket house sparks romance and mystery in the latest from Green (Second Chance, 2007, etc.). Windermere is a glorious beach house on the shores of Nantucket. The home has been the site of riotous parties, romance and tremendous loss. The Powell family has inhabited Windermere for generations. Nan Powell--a woman of a certain age--is the current occupant. Despite suffering the loss of her husband on Windermere's beach, Nan decided to stay put and raise her son, Michael, in Nantucket. Now alone in her large home, Nan refuses to downsize. She adores rambling around in her home and watching the developers drool over her nine acres of oceanfront property. As an aging widow, Nan has earned a reputation as a bit of an eccentric--this suits her just fine. Her cavalier attitude catches up with her when she finds out that all of her investments have tanked and she is out of cash. To make ends meet, Nan decides to let out rooms at Windermere. She dusts off the furniture and writes an ad. Woosh. A breath of fresh air enters the somewhat musty home as Nan welcomes her boarders. The boarders make up an odd lot: There's Daniel, newly out of the closet and estranged from his wife; Daff, a single mother trying to find herself and deal with an unruly teenage daughter; and Michael, Nan's son, a refugee from New York after an affair with his boss turns sour. The combination of Nan's meddling and Windermere's magic brings unexpected romance. As love blossoms all around her, Nan comes to terms with her future. Spending a few hours combing through the gardens and beaches of Green's Nantucket is a great way to make a long plane ride seem much shorter. And if you can't recall much of the plot after turning the last page, so what? Neatly packaged beach diversion. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Sixty-five-year-old Nan Powell has lived comfortably and happily in Nantucket since the suicide of her husband, Everett, so she is thrown for a loop when she learns that she is in danger of losing her beloved house. After weighing her options, Nan decides to turn her home into a bed-and-breakfast. The guests she gets for the summer are all at a crossroads in their lives in one way or another. Daniel has just separated from his wife and is facing something he has denied for years; Daff is recovering from the heartbreak of a divorce and getting a much-needed break from her anger-filled 13-year-old daughter; and Nan's son Michael is on the run from a disastrous affair. Nan finds herself opening up to her guests and enjoying their company, but she is shocked when she discovers a person close to one of them has a startling connection to her. Peopled with likable, flawed, realistic characters and moving seamlessly between them, this is Green's best novel in years, a compelling, unputdownable read.--Huntley, Kristine Copyright 2008 Booklist
Library Journal Review
This is a heartwarming tale of how a land-rich but cash-poor 65-year-old widow saves her Nantucket home by taking in summer boarders. Green's (Second Chance) trademark assemblage of appealing characters--a recently separated father of two young daughters, a single mother of a teenager--gradually fill up Nan's home, and their interactions bring hope back into these strangers' lives. Even Nan is taken by surprise when a visitor brings more than just long-lost memories. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/08.] (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.