Review: Barefoot by Elin Hildebrand

by:  Elin Hilderbrand
published by:  Little, Brown & Co.
publish date:  July, 2007

It's summer on Nantucket, and as the season begins, three
women arrive at the local airport, observed by Josh, a local
boy, home from college. Burdened with small children,
unwieldy straw hats, and some obvious emotional issues,
the women--two sisters and one friend--make their way to
the sisters' tiny cottage, inherited from an aunt. They're all
trying to escape from something: Melanie, after seven failed
in-vitro attempts, discovered her husband's infidelity and
then her own pregnancy; Brenda embarked on a passionate
affair with an older student that got her fired from her
prestigious job as a professor in New York; and her sister
Vickie, mother to two small boys, has been diagnosed with
cancer. Soon Josh is part of the chaotic household, acting
as babysitter, confidant, and, eventually, something
more, while the women confront their pasts and map out
their futures.

You'd think maybe by now I'd be tired of Elin Hilderbrand books.  I'd be tired of books about people spending their summers on Nantucket.  You might think all her books are the same.  It amazes me that they aren't.   Elin Hilderbrand is hands down one of my favorite "chick-lit" writers. 

I've never been to Nantucket.  I lived in Massachusetts for TEN YEARS and never went there.  Over the last couple of years since discovering Elin Hilderbrand and her books, I feel like I've been there.  I crave to go there.  Her books make Nantucket feel like such a tangible place as you're reading them, it makes you feel like you're right there with the characters.

The book Barefoot is no different than her other books.  It's an excellent story.  All these women and their problems are crammed into one tiny cottage for the summer.  A local boy, Josh, becomes their savior for the summer.  He takes care of the whole household in various ways.   I really liked all the characters in this book, except maybe DeeDee, Josh's ex-girlfriend, but the reader isn't supposed to like her.

Barefoot is one of Elin's older books, but if you haven't read it, I recommend it.  It's a great warm weather read for these cold days of winter.