Barefoot was the February selection for my FLICKS Book and
Movie Club. Sadly Penelope was teething
the night of the meeting and Ben and the boys were off to wrestling practice so
I had to miss this month. Barefoot is
the second Elin Hilderbrand novel I’ve read.
I listened to and really enjoyed Silver Girl this past fall.
Barefoot is about three women with a vast array of problems
who are vacationing on Nantucket Island.
Vicki has just discovered she has lung cancer and is going to go through
chemotherapy while staying at the tiny cottage she inherited from her aunt on
Nantucket. Her sister Brenda is along to
help out with Vicki’s two children, but is also running away from a mess. A respected new professor, Brenda had it made
until she had a ruinous affair with a handsome student and wrecked a prized
painting at her college in the aftermath.
Now jobless and under investigation, Brenda needs to determine what
course she needs to take for her future.
Vicki also invites her friend Melanie for the summer. Melanie has just discovered her husband has
been cheating on her, and that she is finally pregnant after endless rounds of invitro
fertilization. Unsure of what to do,
Melanie leaves her husband without telling him about the pregnancy.
Having all of this drama together in one tiny cabin ensure
that the summer will be anything, but boring.
To help with the kids, Brenda hires a babysitter, a young college
student named Josh. Josh noticed the
woman when they first arrived at the island and is sure that they are destined
to change his life.
I thought the story of Barefoot was interesting, but I didn’t
like how the story was framed from Josh’s point of view. It made the story feel odd and disjointed at
times. SPOILER ALERT: I especially did not like Josh and Melanie’s
affair. I know Melanie’s husband cheated
on her, but sleeping with your significantly younger babysitter while you are
pregnant just gave me an “icky” feeling while reading those parts of the
book. SPOILER END I did like Vicki’s storyline and her
realistic struggle with cancer. Somehow
the power of her story was lessoned by the frivolity of the other plot lines.
Overall, Barefoot was a highly readable chick lit novel, but
not as good as Hilderbrandt’s newer novel, Silver Girl.
Book Source: The
Kewaunee Public Library
I agree. Melanie's inclusion in the story seemed disconnected and out of place. The affair was extremely misplaced, her character never developed into someone the reader really wanted to see succeed and truly care about. I think the book would have been better had Josh simply found a mother figure in Vicky. The Didi plotline also felt conjured and fake.
ReplyDelete