Book Review: "The Castaways: A Novel" by Elin Hilderbrand Delivers Great Summer Reading

Elin Hilderbrand is featured on Beach Bookstore tables all over the coast and there is definitely merit to that!

The Castaways: A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand (Published July 2009, Little, Brown and Company) is the perfect read for a day at the beach, or by the pool. Set on the beach of Nantucket Island the book offers elements of mystery, grief and couples in and out of love triangles that will have you reading till the sun sets (okay, and maybe into the night!)

Elin writes from Nantucket, her home, and you can tell. These books are saturated with beach life and the nuances of the town that help the reader paint a perfect scene. It isn't over the top, just enough to create the most vivid scene - a life that seems just beyond reach for mainstream America. It s appealing because it is the kind of situation that you may only read about in a book. Yet, the head struggles are so familiar, for any man or woman and you may find yourself thinking at times, that you are a Castaway yourself.

An untimely accident kills one couple, of four featured in the book, in the first chapter which provides great mystery throughout. However, what really sucks you in is the dynamic between the three remaining couples. It is the ultimate love triangle, or rather love octagon! The draw of successful people struggling emotionally in grief and in love is offers a little something for everyone to relate to.

Compared to Elin's sad tale Barefoot, it is a smash. Barefoot was interesting and by title seems better for a summer read, however it is a sad struggle between women and sisters. Castaways really spotlights Elins ability to write men and that makes the book so interesting to have chapters highlight both male and female versions of the same story.

At times, it was a little smutty, which is inviting in a book about couples who by all appearances are high functioning family types. But for familiar couples, who know each other well, as characters grow and spouses disappoint, you find yourself thinking none of it as abnormal. Still, the pending "outing" of all these secrets is bound to unfold drama and it is just that which will keep you flipping pages in the sun like mad.