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| Plot Summary of Beach Girls |
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"
Bantam, Aug 2004, 7.50, 464 pp.
ISBN: 0553587242
In 1976 Hubbard's Point, Connecticut, three teenage girls swear to be friends forever as the “Beach Girls” though their temperament differs. Stevie Moore is a sensitive artist; Maddie Kilvert is the serious one; Emma Lincoln is the sassy member of the trio. Time, distance, and events drift Stevie from the others, but Maddie and Emma become in-laws when the latter married former's brother Jack.
In 2003 Emma is dead while Jack raises their preadolescent daughter Nell by himself though his family helps when they can. Because of all the memories of his wife in Atlanta, Jack relocates to Boston, but is spending the summer with Nell in Hubbard's Point as his daughter wants to learn everything about her beloved mom.
Nell searches for the reclusive Stevie, a renowned children's book author. When they meet, the child's innocence and enthusiasm touches the hermit and begins bringing the Beach Girl out of her shell. Soon Nell tries matchmaking her dad with Stevie, but he still mourns his loss and she has failed at relationships making the child's effort monumental.
This angst-laden second chance at love (and living) tale contains a strong cast and a unique engaging story line. For much of the novel, Nell's need to reach back to her deceased mom's past is the focus while the adult love is handled quite deftly by simmering it slowly to percolate as neither Stevie nor Jack is truly ready for a relationship when they first re-meet. Though perhaps some readers will feel Nell is too precocious, BEACH GIRLS is a well done character study that concentrates on what individuals do to survive traumas, tragedies, and failures.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Beach Girls |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of story
- Present (2000-2010)
Inner struggle subplot
Yes
Struggle with...
- angst over dead lover
Children/Pregnancy
Yes
Children/Pregnancy:
- kid(s) make adults sensitive
Main Male Character
Profession/status:
- business executive
Age/status:
- 40's-50's
How sexual is this person?
- very picky
How romantic is this person?
- somewhat romantic
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Female Character
Age/status:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- writer
How sexual is this person?
- very picky
How romantic is this person?
- somewhat romantic
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
What % of story is romance related?
- 60%
Focus of story
- equally on him and her
How much dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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