Pieces of blue

Holly Goldberg Sloan, 1958-

Book - 2023

"From New York Times bestselling author Holly Goldberg Sloan, a hilarious and heartfelt novel for fans of Maria Semple and Emma Straub about a family trying to restore a ramshackle beachside motel-and their own lives. What good was thinking the future only held cloudy skies? Wasn't the reality that pieces of blue were always there, waiting to break through? When Paul Hill drowns in a surfing accident, he leaves his wife, Lindsey, and their three children with broken hearts and a mountain of debt. Once Paul's life insurance finally comes through, Lindsey impulsively uses the money to buy a charmingly ramshackle motel in Hawai'i, hoping for a fresh start. Teenage Olivia quickly develops a crush on a handsome but monosyllab...ic skateboarder. Twelve-year-old Carlos reinvents himself as a popular kid named Carl. And Sena, the youngest, will do whatever it takes to protect her beloved motel chickens. But while the kids adjust, Lindsey is flailing, trying to pretend she knows how to bring a motel-and herself-back to life. Then a handsome stranger rolls into the motel parking lot, and she's surprised to feel a long-dormant part of herself stirring. She accepts his offer to help, unaware that he may have secrets of his own. And all the while, out in the Pacific, the trade winds are fiercely blowing. Funny and tender, full of twists and turns and heart, Pieces of Blue is a portrait of an irresistible family learning to start over"--

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Subjects
Genres
Domestic fiction
Romance fiction
Novels
Published
New York : Flatiron Books 2023.
Language
English
Main Author
Holly Goldberg Sloan, 1958- (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
256 pages ; 25 cm
ISBN
9781250847300
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Goldberg Sloan (I'll Be There) captures the resilience of a widow seeking to provide stability for her children in this emotional contemporary romance. After Lindsey Hill's husband, Paul, disappears--and presumably drowns--in a surfing accident, Lindsey untangles the financial fallout of Paul's struggling tech company's demise and takes a chance at rebuilding her family's life by buying a remote Hawaiian motel, sight unseen, with Paul's life insurance money. The angst of solo parenting three children--14-year-old Olivia, 12-year-old Carlos, and seven-year-old Sena--coupled with a lack of experience at motel management proves difficult. Enter Chris Young, who stayed at the motel with his wife before she died from cancer and offers to help Lindsey make some much needed repairs. Lindsey is surprised to feel the spark of attraction long missing from her life--but nothing is as simple as it seems, and Chris has some secrets of his own. Empathetic yet flawed characters navigating deep, painful problems add authenticity to the resonant story, and the mystery of Paul's disappearance keeps things tense. Readers will devour this in one sitting. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House. (May)

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

What starts as a typical self-empowerment novel about a family attempting to start a new life in Hawaii after tragedy takes some unexpected noirish turns midway through. Two years after her husband Paul's drowning in Oregon, Welsh-born Lindsey Hill moves with her three children to Hawaii, where she's purchased a motel--sight unseen--with life insurance money that's finally been paid out after Paul's surfing death was ruled accidental. Still grieving Paul, Lindsey is also contending with the chaos his financial failures caused in the months before he died. Sloan writes about the entire family with energy, insight, and humor (like the physical comedy surrounding the aged Crown Victoria that Lindsey rents the first day, crashes before exiting the rental agency's parking lot, and ends up buying). Of course the Mau Loa Motel turns out to be beautiful but more run-down than Lindsey expected; of course she is emotionally numb until a handsome stranger shows up and helps with repairs while stirring her heartstrings; of course 14-year-old Olivia has trouble adjusting to high school until she meets a boy and his brother, while 7-year-old animal lover Sena is uber-precocious and 12-year-old Carlos is a sensitive pleaser who covers his own pain while protecting the others. Slowly they start recovering in all the conventional ways before Sloan shifts gears to include elements of crime fiction. Unfortunately, the plotting, while less predictable than a standard domestic dramedy, becomes more stilted as the male characters, who never quite gel, take prominent roles. It turns out that the men in Lindsey's life have not always been what they seem, a truth her children figure out before she does. A raging storm bearing down on the motel with everyone inside becomes the novel's piece de resistance and raises the stakes for everyone involved, including readers, before a disappointingly easy denouement. An often enjoyable but uneven mix of romance, domesticity, and action. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.