Life’s a Beach
Claire Cook
Published by Voice (Hyperion Books)
Reviewed by Sarra Borne
Protagonist Ginger Walsh is a forty-something, single
woman who finds herself living in her parents F.R.O.G (Finished Room
Over the
Garage). She’s got a boyfriend with
commitment issues, an artistic cat semi-sarcastically named Boyfriend,
and she
is working on a half-hearted attempt at a career making jewelry out of
beach
glass. Her aging hippie mother wants to
sell the house and move to a retirement community but her dad is
determined to
stay right where they are.
Proclaiming herself childfree by
choice, Ginger nevertheless spends much of her time babysitting for her
sister
Geri’s kids. So it just seems natural
for her to shepherd nephew Riley out to Cape Cod when he gets a small
part in a
B-movie. On the set she meets a
handsome gaffer and succumbs to his charms just a little, which leads
to
insinuations by the other mothers on just how Riley got his part.
Sister Geri
is so wrapped up in her upcoming 50th birthday that she
can’t focus
on anything else, unless of course it’s berating Ginger about her poor
life
choices.
This is one of those books that
makes for the perfect beach read. It’s
not too long, not too intellectually demanding, and yet the characters
are
engaging and funny and just a little over-the-top.
A warm and witty romantic comedy with just
the right amount of serious relationship insight.
Sisters will recognize each other in these
pages, as they watch Geri and Ginger find themselves and each other.