Beach-read author Elin Hilderbrand pays homage to playwright Bernard Slade with her similar to Same Time Next Year plot of 28 Summers, a story of a once-a-year rendezvous for two lovers.
I was torn on this one because I am usually repulsed by illicit love affairs but I couldn’t help liking Mallory Blessing and the man-who-should-have-married-her, Jake McCloud. The beginning chapter does give away the denouement of the book, which to me was a mistake; I did not want to see that ending coming.
The setting is Nantucket, where Mallory lives and Jake visits every Labor Day Weekend. It started out as a bachelor party for her brother Cooper at the beach but it turns into a love affair that lasts for decades.
What could go wrong with this arrangement? Nothing if Jake wasn’t committed to the totally wrong woman for him and goes ahead and marries her instead of Mallory, the woman he truly loves. It is no surprise that his marriage is unfulfilling for either party, and his wife is no saint herself, having to wonder if their unborn baby is her husband’s or someone else’s.
Only could Hilderbrand’s deft hand turn this tale into the story of a relationship that “complicates and enriches their lives, and the lives of the people they love.”
I highly recommend this book for Elin Hilderbrand’s fans. This is a book that is unputdownable because even though the reader knows how it is going to end, the plot must be pursued to that final outcome. Of course, this is the classic beach read that she gives readers every year: romance, beaches, food and drink, ocean, beaches, and sand dollars. Remember the sand dollars.
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