This book by Maggie Dana has quotes from the authors Elizabeth Buchan ("A sparkling attractive novel) and Katie Fforde on the front cover ("A wonderfully uplifting story about a woman on her way to fulfillment") and what I like about their books, I liked in this one, ie - the story is not about some glam supermodel or impossibly long limbed high flier with a penchant for Prada and Manolo Blahnik, but a middle aged woman who has longings and fears just like us all.
Finding a book about such a heroine is hard. When the publishing house Transita was set up, it was specifically with the remit of writing about older woman and their lives and loves and was, surprisingly, excoriated by people such as Phillipa Gregory and Mariella Frostrup (themselves no spring chickens) who should have known better, and, as very little seems to have been published by Transita recently, the whole idea seems to have died the death which is a great shame. Beachcombing is published by Macmillan New Writing on 5 June so let us hope that we have more of this genre coming from this house in the future.
I was delighted, therefore, to receive an email from Maggie Dana asking me if I would take a look at her book and review it. Well, I am just a Tart when it comes to books and am happy to be the recipient of all that flow in my direction and, while I cannot possibly read or even like all of them, I am very happy to say that I gulped this down in one afternoonon read and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Jilllian Hunter lives in an old tumbledown beach house in Connecticut. She is divorced from Richard "He complained I was cold. Frigid. He's right. I was, but only with him" . She has raised two sons by herself, restored the house and has started a small business all on her own so by any lights she has been a success. But, Jill has fond memories of Colin, ("does that lock of hair still flop cross his forehead? Do his cheeks still dimple when he smiles?") a boy she fell in love with in her teens, and has yearned after ever since and so when she falls into his arms on a visit to an old friend in London (literally, she trips down a flight of stairs), she is ready to embark on a passionate affair with him.
Jill throws caution to the winds and, while it is clear to the reader that perhaps Colin is not the god she thinks he is, she abandons all inhibitions along with her commonsense and hurtles headlong into a relationship with this long lost love of her youth. We can see the inevitable crash and heartbreak coming a mile off, but as I am sure most of us know, love is blind and being older and, in theory, wiser makes no difference at all to heartbreak. By the time Colin dumps her, she has managed to lose old friends, has risked her livelihood and is staggering on the brink of disaster, both personal and professional and she has to Get a Grip and start all over again.
Beachcombing rang some very familiar bells with me during its read and I found myself totally in sympathy with Jill. She is funny, not always wise, but is loyal and lovable with a self deprecating attitude to her own faililngs. The writing is witty and sharp and funny and the narrative is paced beautifully, not too frenetic but zapping along nicely and keeping the reader's attention at all times. You really like the characters, not only Jill but her friend and neighbour Lizzie who though she "has no idea what it's like to run your own business...works in a community college where students turn up on an annual basis, paychecks are deposited directly into her bank account ...computers are fixed, the water cooler is filled and her printer is never ruined by stray cat hairs" is supportive and loving. Apart from friends and family, she also has a cat named Zachary who disappears when Colin is around and comes back when he has gone (cats always know best). It turns out that he has adopted a second home in the next house along the beach where a rather interesting man called Tom happens to live. Such perspicacity....
Ok, well you don't need a degree in rocket science to see what is going to happen and that after all the heartbreak and angst, Jill is going to find happiness and fulfillment. It's a given. If I say that this book is very Katie Ffordish I do hope Maggie takes this as a compliment as I love her books and the slightly scatty heroines who manage to come through against the odds. It is a good feeling to know that books are being written by authors who know that being over 50 does not mean that your heart doesn't stop beating when you are with somebody you love, that you can dither what you are going to wear on a date (big knickers or little knickers), does my bum look big in this, oh dear look at the saggy tummy, and that falling for someone is not the prerogative of the young and beautiful. I found this book heartwarming, amusing and delightful and loved every page.
"I came so close to losing all this..........my best memories lie within the fabric of these walls.....climbing the stairs I run my hands along the banister, down the spindles, feeling drips of paint I neglected to sand off.....in the distance, waves roar and rumble up the beach.
My beach. My home"
Lovely.
