Family reunion A novel

Nancy Thayer, 1943-

Book - 2021

"A grandmother-granddaughter duo are eager to spend their summer together on peaceful Nantucket, but the season that unfolds brings about unforgettable surprises in New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer's magical, multigenerational novel. Eleanor Sunderland loves living on the Nantucket cliffside, in a charming home that has been in her family for decades. Now widowed, she looks forward to the arrival of her children and grandchildren for an annual family reunion, eager for the life and laughter that will soon fill the air. But Eleanor's island idyll is shattered when her money-driven children suggest she sell the house and move to a retirement community. She finds a lone ally in her twenty-two-year-old granddaughter..., Ari, who moves in with her for the summer. Ari longs for a change of scenery, to stray from the path her parents have set for her. What she does not expect is an electric romantic spark with a Nantucket local, Cal, whose kind heart and charisma have her absolutely smitten. With plenty of her signature Nantucket magic, Nancy Thayer brings both Eleanor and Ari on a summer beyond their wildest imaginations, filled with exciting connections, old and new"--

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Subjects
Genres
Domestic fiction
Published
New York : Ballantine Books [2021]
Language
English
Main Author
Nancy Thayer, 1943- (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
282 pages ; 24 cm
ISBN
9781524798789
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Eleanor Sunderland is thrilled when her family comes to visit her in Nantucket. She's less thrilled when she learns they are there to convince her to sell her house and move into a nursing home. She's only 70, and though the house is shabby, it's got a view she can't live without. Her granddaughter Ari, newly graduated from college and newly single, decides a summer on Nantucket will help her get her head together before she starts grad school. Eleanor and Ari understand each other, and their peaceful cohabitation is a respite from a summer of chaos. Ari's stressful but rewarding job at a summer camp, Eleanor's restlessness and worry about her two adult children, infidelity, and a rocky romance are just a few of the waves Thayer (Let It Snow, 2019) whips up for her grandmother-granddaughter duo in her latest. But she also throws in plenty of details about summer in Nantucket, from the unpredictable weather to flowy sundresses to yacht club meals. Fans of Elin Hilderbrand will enjoy this beachy escape.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

It's not the summer widowed Eleanor Sunderland had expected, with her greedy children pushing her to sell her beloved home in Nantucket and shuffle off to a retirement center. Fortunately, 22-year-old granddaughter Ari proves to be an ally, moving in with her grandmother as she seeks to redirect her own life--and falling for charming local Cal.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

An aging widow grapples with how to approach the next and final chapters of her life in this multigenerational tale. Eleanor Sunderland lives on Nantucket in the same home that belonged to her grandparents and her parents before her. Now that she's widowed, her adult children assume she will spend the next decade or two living alone before going quietly into the dark night. Her son, Cliff, learns a hotel chain wants to buy Eleanor's property for millions of dollars. Cliff thinks Eleanor should relocate to senior housing somewhere while he and his sister, Alicia, receive one-third shares of the sale proceeds. Eleanor's not having it, because she loves her home and the memories it holds. Moreover, Alicia's daughter, Ari, has just graduated from college and wants to spend the summer living on the island with Eleanor. As the summer begins, Eleanor's quiet island fills with all sorts of excitement. As Eleanor finds out that her young, single granddaughter is pregnant, discovers that her son-in-law might be two-timing Alicia, and develops a romantic relationship of her own, her head starts spinning. As Eleanor watches Ari tackle the challenges life throws at her, she wonders if she can follow her granddaughter's bold example. The third-person narration alternates between Eleanor's and Ari's perspectives, juxtaposing the different life stages at which these women find themselves but also illustrating the many parallels between the questions they face. There is perhaps too much emphasis on Eleanor's life being lonely and uneventful; the portrayals of many ho-hum moments of jigsaw puzzling and early bedtimes do slow down the pace. Even so, with the exception of Alicia, who feels like a caricature of a money-grubbing offspring, the characters are realistically rendered and their plights sufficiently engrossing that readers will want to keep turning the pages. As always, the author's love for Nantucket is palpable on nearly every page. A tidy Nantucket tale shows that baby boomers still have plenty of pluck. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

One Summer was almost here! Eleanor Sunderland sat on her deck looking out at the eternal Atlantic, savoring the view. Above in the sky, diamond-­tipped stars were appearing, one by one, and Eleanor could hear the gentle shush of the waves on the shore far below her. The scent of long, sunny days drifted in with the light, salty breeze from the sea. It was late May, and if she tilted her head, she could scan down the row of houses on the bluff. She could see which ones had lights on, which summer people had arrived early. She felt both invaded in her happy seclusion and grateful for the company. The winters here could be lonely. This summer might be lonely, too. The air was chilly. She wore a long-­sleeved dress, but still she shivered, and when her cat flicked his tail against her leg, she knew it was time to go inside, to give Shadow his treat, to prepare for bed. She had never liked going to bed. When she was outside by the ocean, Eleanor felt no age at all, but in her house all the new and necessary bits of technology made her feel very much her age. She stood up--­too fast. Her blood pressure had trouble rising, her doctor told her, because she was so tall. Never one to enjoy being told what to do, it was a nuisance to be seventy years old and bossed around by her body. She waited, and the dizziness faded, and she went through the sliding glass door into the kitchen to give Shadow a small clump of Feline Feast. She checked the lock on the back door, out of habit, and made her way through the large house, turning off lights as she went. Upstairs, she brushed her teeth and changed into her light cotton nightgown and folded back the light quilt and settled against her pillows. "Shall we watch some television, Shadow?" she asked the cat, who had eaten and now sat purring at the end of the bed. She picked up the long black remote control, which made her think of the black monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was magical, but it was surely going to give her carpal tunnel syndrome or whatever it was called. Her thumb hurt from pressing the buttons. Yes, she knew she could use voice commands to get to a certain channel: PBS. CNN. She knew about the ridiculously named Xfinity, another sign that the English language was being hijacked by idiots, but once she was on the channel--­or what was it called now? Stream?--then she had to push a button to go up and down and across the rows of offerings, often accidentally landing in a Japanese anime series like The Legend of Korra. She pressed the blue button that allowed voice commands. It made a strange, unpleasant noise. The television screen said, Something is wrong. Well, she knew that! "What are we going to do, Shadow?" Eleanor asked. Shadow continued licking his beautiful dark fur. At least he didn't run on batteries. "My hair is still as thick as yours," Eleanor told the cat, who obviously didn't care, but it was true. She had been graced with thick dark hair, and so far age had not thinned it out, even though it had streaked the black with white and wreaked havoc on the rest of her body. A pile of books lay on the bed next to her in all their glorious colorful jackets. New books she'd bought at Mitchell's, because she loved that bookstore dearly, and also a few books from the library. She always gave herself some time to browse the library shelves to check out new reads she hadn't heard about and wasn't sure she would want to stick with. Like agreeing to only coffee on a first date, rather than an entire meal. But she'd spent much of her day reading, and she wanted the effortless zoning out that television provided. She couldn't tolerate being with her own thoughts for one more minute. She needed distraction. Earlier today, she had walked from her house on the bluff to Martha's house in town. Martha was her best friend. They'd gone through weddings, childbirth, adolescence, and empty nests together. Martha's marriage had been as happy as Eleanor's was miserable, and it was Martha's laughter and advice that had gotten Eleanor through life with her wildly handsome, indescribably tense, strict, virtuous husband, Mortimer Radcliffe Sunderland. Now deceased. Three years ago, Mortimer died suddenly, in his sleep. During the reception after the funeral, Eleanor had whispered to Martha, "I'm surprised Mortimer would do anything suddenly," and they had covered their mouths with their hands and giggled like little girls. But this morning, over coffee, Martha announced, "Eleanor, guess what! Al and I are leaving this week to take a three-­month cruise of the Mediterranean!" Eleanor felt faint. The floor seemed to slip beneath her feet. "What?" "I know it's a surprise. I didn't mean to spring it on you like this." Eleanor sat there, quietly, furiously, trying not to feel she'd just been stabbed in the heart by a traitor. After a moment, she regained her self-­control. "Gosh, what a surprise," Eleanor said in her normal voice. "I had no idea you were planning a cruise." Martha blushed. "We didn't really plan it. We sort of decided on the spur of the moment. We've splurged on first-­class tickets. First-­class everything, because Al will turn seventy in June, and we decided it's time to spoil ourselves." "How wonderful," Eleanor announced, lying through her teeth. "I know! Eleanor, let me show you our ship! Our itinerary! Hang on, I'll get Al's laptop." So Eleanor had to sit there going "Ooh" at the shiny photos of Greek islands rising out of deep blue seas, elegant staircases to posh first-­class suites, and a formal dining room with white tablecloths, floral centerpieces, waiters dressed like naval officers in handsome uniforms, and buffets of food from around the world. "Al has to take a tux," Martha whispered in awe. "I have to buy some gowns. Gowns, Eleanor! One night we'll sit at the captain's table!" "You're going to gain weight," Eleanor predicted, like the black fairy at Sleeping Beauty's christening. "Actually, I won't!" Martha pulled up shots of the ship's fitness center, complete with bikes, weights, and yoga mats. "Also," Martha crowed, "ta-­da!" A turquoise swimming pool filled the screen. "No salt, no sand, just clear water." Full of chlorine and other people's pee, Eleanor almost said, but bit her tongue. Instead, she said, "The ship must be enormous if it has a swimming pool." "Oh, it is," Martha agreed, and babbled on. Eleanor stopped listening. She was happy for her best friend. She was simply sad for herself. Summer was always a difficult time on the small island, when thirty thousand or more summer people arrived to share the pleasures of Nantucket. Contractors honked at any car with a New York license plate, families on bikes pedaled blithely past stop signs, and you never saw anyone you knew in the crowded grocery store. Complaining with Martha was one of her few summer joys, and this summer she would be deprived of that. "Now you're going to have to get a cellphone," Eleanor said triumphantly. Martha was kind of a technophobe, using a landline telephone and her old Kodak camera. "Well, I thought of that," Martha said. "But you know how I hate those things. We've decided that, if necessary, I'll use Al's, but really we'll only need to check on the children, and they're all grown up so we don't even need to do that." "I'll miss you," Eleanor admitted. "I'll send you postcards!" Martha told her. Eleanor restrained herself from rolling her eyes--­did anyone even send postcards anymore? "Please do." Forcing herself to be cheerful, she said, "Oh, Martha, I hope you have a spectacular time!" She had been sad and hurt and angry when she left Martha's house, because it didn't seem like Martha not to tell Eleanor about something so important before. Now she tossed the remote control on the quilt. "Alexa," she said, "play Bob Seger." As his rough and growly voice filled the room with "Against the Wind," Eleanor snorted, because if anything was against the wind it was her old house on the bluff. Then came the words: "We were young and strong," and Eleanor couldn't help it. She burst into tears. Excerpted from Family Reunion: A Novel by Nancy Thayer All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.