Book Review #5 - The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club

 Disclaimer - I won this book in a giveaway from the publisher with an expectation that a review would be provided, although not required.  

The book has a few underlying themes - the Haves and Have Nots being one of them. Two friends, unlikely though they may be, work at a beach resort during the Second World War.  I say unlikely friends because one is a Have and the other a definite Have Not.  Apparently, the ongoing war had no impact on the summer women who still came to hang out on the beach to tan and read their books for their book club, when they weren't paying Cadence to read it for them and give them the synopsis.  Their book club not being the one later formed by Cadence and Bess (the Have in the friendship) for their own purposes.  

Did I enjoy the book, yes.  Did I love it, no.  I did want to learn the ending, but I wasn't dying to get there.  

The story is primarily told by the two main sisters of the book - Cadence and Briar Smith- although others get a turn as well.  Their brother Tom is in love with Bess, who lives with the family, and remains there after Tom heads off to serve in the war.  The story is shared in back-and-forth chapters between the sisters.  That can sometimes be a little tough to follow in that each character is telling in first person and you sometimes have to remind yourself who the "I" is in that chapter.  

Briar's share of the story is mostly her fascination with the War.  The soldiers training on the beach.  Her conviction that there is a German U-boat just offshore, and a spy somewhere amongst their small-town community.  Cadence's story focuses more on her dream of going to New York and entering the literary industry, fully supported by the summer beach ladies who all have ties to someone in the publishing world, but having to keep the family together first.

I found many instances where I had to suspend my own theories of disbelief.  And the ending wasn't a perfect Hallmark ending, but pretty darn close.  At times the story line felt disjointed and others felt rushed.  It just wasn't always smooth.   But that doesn't mean it wasn't a good story.

The overarching premise was a young woman, Mari, who flies across country on the pretense of having a private art lesson with a famous artist, Mrs. D.  We hear from each of them at the beginning of the book and again at the end and maybe just once in between.  When I got to their middle of the book chapters, I had honestly forgotten who they were.  Which is fine because the story of the Smith sisters was the main focus.  

All in all, a nice little read.  Not too long at 301 pages.  Not overly complex so I would put it in the category of a beach read.  Would selectively recommend.