I was sent the first chapter of Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky through her publicist. Checking out the author's website, she defines her work as, "character-driven studies of marriage, parenthood, sibling rivalry, and friendship."
Charlotte and Nicole were once the best of friends, spending summers together in Nicole's coastal island house off of Maine. But many years, and many secrets, have kept the women apart. A successful travel writer, single Charlotte lives on the road, while Nicole, a food blogger, keeps house in Philadelphia with her surgeon-husband, Julian. When Nicole is commissioned to write a book about island food, she invites her old friend Charlotte back to Quinnipeague, for a final summer, to help. Outgoing and passionate, Charlotte has a gift for talking to people and making friends, and Nicole could use her expertise for interviews with locals. Missing a genuine connection, Charlotte agrees.
But what both women don't know is that they are each holding something back that may change their lives forever. For Nicole, what comes to light could destroy her marriage, but it could also save her husband. For Charlotte, the truth could cost her Nicole’s friendship, but could also free her to love again. And her chance may lie with a reclusive local man, with a heart to soothe and troubles of his own.
Bestselling author and master storyteller Barbara Delinsky invites you come away to Quinnipeague…
COVER: That looks like lavender, one of my favorites. This cover quickly transports the reader to the northern most New England state where lavender thrives. Love it.
FIRST CHAPTER: A conflicted Charlotte takes the ferry with her old, but new to her, Jeep Wrangler to Quinnipeague, Maine. It's been ten years since she's set foot on the island with its favorite eating spot, the Chowder House, and a general store across from the post office. She wonders if Nicole knows her secret, but she's fairly certain if she did know, Nicole wouldn't have invited her to come or ask for her help on the book.
KEEP READING: 100% yes, all the way. I'm totally intrigued. This is the kind of story that gets to me. A woman returns to a place from her past, there's conflict unknown to the reader that often involves a secret, and then when that secret is revealed all hell breaks loose. Delinksy does a superb job of painting pictures through Charlotte's eyes of the island town she left behind as she watches it get closer from her spot on the ferry. The author also draws the reader in with the high level of conflicting emotions experienced by the main character as she gets closer and closer to Quinnipeague: joy, anxiety, fear, hope, distress. I want to drop whatever else I am reading and finish this book.
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (June 18, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250007038
ISBN-13: 978-1250007032
Barbara Delinksy is a New York Times bestselling author with more than thirty million copies of her books in print. She has been published in twenty-eight languages worldwide. A lifelong New Englander, Delinsky earned a B.A. in psychology at Tufts University and an M.A. in sociology at Boston College. Delinsky enjoys knitting, photography, and cats. She lives in Needham, Massachusetts.
I received the first chapter of this novel from the author's publicist. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.
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