Barefoot: A Novel - Softcover

Hilderbrand, Elin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316075817 ISBN 13: 9780316075817

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2009

Synopsis

Visiting Nantucket for the summer, three women seek peace and comfort as they cope with the challenges in their lives--from marriage, infidelity, and the mayhem of motherhood to scandal, tragedy, and illness.
Three women--burdened with small children, unwieldy straw hats, and some obvious emotional issues--tumble onto the Nantucket airport tarmac one hot June day. Vicki is trying to sort through the news that she has a serious illness. Her sister, Brenda, has just left her job after being caught in an affair with a student. And their friend Melanie, after seven failed in vitro attempts, is pregnant at last--but only after learning that her husband is having an affair. They have come to escape, enjoy the sun, and relax in Nantucket's calming air. But into the house, into their world, steps twenty-two-year-old Josh Flynn.
Barefoot weaves these four lives together in a story with enthralling sweep and scope--a novel that is as fun and memorable and bittersweet as that one perfect day of summer.

About this title

About the Author

Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket, which has been the setting for her five previous novels. Hilderbrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa.

From AudioFile

When Vicki and her children join her sister, Brenda, and Vicki's best friend, Melanie, on a vacation in Nantucket, each woman brings a disturbing secret. Narrator Katie Hale's gentle voice lends itself well to expressing the trauma of Vicki's recent lung cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy treatments. And Hale is especially believable in characterizing Brenda, who is struggling to come to terms with her recent loss of tenure because of an affair with a student. Melanie is also on an emotional roller coaster, which Hale portrays energetically. She's had a successful in-vitro procedure and is delightedonly to learn that her husband is having an affair. Secondary characters Josh, a student hired to mind Vicky's children, and his girlfriend, Didi, a cunning manipulator, are also given true-to-life performances. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0316075817
• ISBN 13: 9780316075817
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 720