Coast Road - Softcover

Barbara Delinsky

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0747260877 ISBN 13: 9780747260875

Publisher: Pocket Books, 1999

Synopsis

Hailed as "a heartwarming story" (Star Tribune, Minneapolis), a celebration of what matters most in life, Barbara Delinsky's profoundly moving New York Times bestseller is as richly textured and captivating as the Northern California landscape in which it is set.

Jack McGill chose his architectural career over his family, and returned home from yet another business trip to find that his wife, Rachel, had left him. Now, six years later, a car accident has left Rachel clinging to life, and she and their two daughters desperately need him. Putting work on hold for the first time in his life, Jack decides to sit by his ex-wife's bedside. As he meets Rachel's many new friends, and tries to cope with two teenage daughters and their problems, he learns more about a woman he never really knew, her expressive art, and the secret that made her leave. Much to his astonishment, Jack begins to see Rachel, his daughters, and the story of his marriage with new eyes.

About this title

Review:

In the famed romantic tradition that only Barbara Delinsky can deliver, you'll meet emotion-packed characters who make you forget whatever it was you were doing before you picked up Coast Road. In this story, workaholic Jack McGill is brought to his knees when he learns that his ex-wife Rachel is in a coma after a car accident. When he rushes to her side to be a dutiful father to his children, he is met with abrasive verbal abuse not only from his children, but also from Rachel's best friends.

By the time the doctors tell him they don't know how long Rachel will be in the coma, Jack has reacquainted himself with his children, and fond memories have surfaced of his ex-wife and her creative artistic talent. Through Rachel's best friend, Katherine, Jack learns about a secret Rachel had hidden from him during the days they were married. The secret, revealed through artwork, is one of the many factors that thrust Jack into "introspection mode." He reevaluates his life, digging deep into his heart's desires, and decides to quit his job and stay at Rachel's side, even if she never wakes up.

Coast Road deals with some very difficult subjects, such as miscarriage, divorce, traveling husbands, breast cancer, and the ramifications of living in a coma. However, once you get past the research exposition and the bantering, you'll laugh and cry (a lot) at what this once-separated family goes through. Delinsky paints vivid pictures of Rachel, who remains in a coma for about 99 percent of the book, but you'll see that it sometimes takes a life-threatening accident to rekindle the fires of love. --Candy Paape

About the Author:

Barbara Delinsky has written many bestselling novels over the past two decades, including Looking for Peyton Place, The Summer I Dared, Flirting with Pete, An Accidental Woman, The Woman Next Door, The Vineyard, Lake News, Coast Road, Three Wishes, A Woman's Place, and For My Daughters. She is also the author of a nonfiction book, Uplift: Secrets from the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors, available from Washington Square Press. Published in twenty-five languages worldwide, her books regularly appear on the bestseller lists of The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Publishers Weekly. Delinsky is a lifelong New Englander who loves communicating with her readers. She can be reached at P.O. Box 812894, Wellesley, MA 02482-0026, or visit her website: www.barbaradelinsky.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pocket Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0747260877
• ISBN 13: 9780747260875
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 356