All you need is one summer to change your life...
Miranda Waters has always loved Seashell Island - while her brother and sister escaped it as soon as they were old enough. So when Miranda is left in charge of her parents' Lighthouse B&B for the summer, the last thing she expects is her wayward siblings showing up at the door, seeking sanctuary.
It's been years since they've all lived under the same roof. Now, they're facing a whole summer together - and a crisis for the B&B and Seashell Island. With the Lighthouse filled with people - including two imaginative nieces, a four piece folk-rock band, and an unruly llama - and a lifetime of secrets between them, can the Waters siblings work together to save their home before it's too late?
This summer it's time to discover that home really is where the heart is, and what family really means...
Many thanks to Orion publishing via NetGalley for my copy of Summer on Seashell Island to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
If you read one book this summer, make sure it is the fabulous Summer on Seashell Island by Sophie Pembroke. It’s the most wonderful read that gives everything you could possibly want from a book and much more. It’s one of the best books I have read in recent weeks and it’s clear from the brilliant storyline, the stunning setting and the interesting and varied characters that the author loved writing this book and wanted her readers to enjoy it just as much as she did. Right from page one I was transported away to Seashell Island and the story that unfolded over many brilliant chapters held me in its thrall right until the very last page. I came across a quote this morning saying that books take you away to another place even when you have to stay at home and this book certainly did that for me. The characters come alive off the pages each with their own problems they are trying to navigate their way through but what shines through is the love they have for each other as a family and also how much the island and their home place of the Lighthouse bed and breakfast actually means to them even if they don’t realise it all the time.
Ever since her family moved to Seashell Island, after some years of moving from place to place, Miranda Waters has called the island home. It’s her security blanket and she rarely if ever leaves it. It’s all she has known for so long and though her siblings Juliet and Leo fled the nest and went further out into the big bad world for Miranda this was not what she wanted. From the moment we are introduced to her with such a funny opening scene as she tries to capture a llama on the beach I knew I was in for a very good read with a character that I would really connect with. The instant glorious descriptions of the island had me clearly visualising everything in my head and this really helped to establish what a special place it was and how much it meant to Miranda. It’s full of community spirit and traditions although the number of holiday makers isn’t always what it once was. Such a picturesque, cosy and happy scene was built up of the blue skies, waves, sand, shops, promenade, the harbour, the cottages and of course lots of sun and ice cream. I just wanted the island to not be a work of fiction so that I could jump on a boat and get there.
Straight away I got the impression that Miranda was a person who liked routine and order and for things to be just so. She is strict and efficient, she strived to achieve perfection in all aspects of her life yet she was the one in the family who hadn’t branched out further than the confines of the island and there must have been a reason for that. Yes, everything can present itself as all fine and dandy but you just know that things won’t always be plain sailing for her. She has been with her fiancée Paul for years and years and he is another constant in her life. She enjoys her job running the holiday cottages for her father-in-law to be and it seems as if Miranda has everything planned out in her life and nothing should deviate from this. For her, life and things on the island should always remain the same as the island offers safety, security and reliability and things should happen in the proper order and at the proper time.
So when Paul is offered a job off the island this upsets her greatly and soon their long standing relationship is no more. Surely they could have a long distance relationship after being together so many years and especially seen as marriage was just around the corner. But perhaps this exposed the cracks in their relationship and this change and her newly single status, which the islanders blame entirely on her rather than Paul, will give her the kick she needs to step outside the box she has created for herself. Life has become too much of a series of obligations which have to be fulfilled for her in order to keep things calm and steady but now with Paul’s departure, combined with the fact her parents have left for a once in a life time trip to Australia setting in motion the possibility of the sale of the family lighthouse, Miranda is faced with a decision.
Change things in her own life or battle to save the lighthouse from no longer being in the family? I loved Miranda as a character. She wasn’t without her faults and was slowly coming to realise what they were and how she could work on them to improve her overall life situation. She needed to be more relaxed and at ease in her own skin and as a group of guests arrive to stay at the lighthouse might there be one amongst them who might hold the key to unlocking her true potential?
Alongside Miranda’s story is that of her sister Juliet and brother Leo. Often I find with books which have more than one main character that one or the others stories will not be as strong but here I thought each of the three siblings was given just the right amount of focus in the book without any of them overpowering the other. I loved how Juliet and Leo returned to the island, each harbouring their own problems, but slowly over time the island worked its magic for them to come to understand the important things in life. The family bonds were just amazing throughout the story without feeling forced or contrived. Yes they were all adults now and two had left the island for various reasons but it had a way of sucking you back in even though you had escaped and perhaps this was the point that change and acceptance might occur. The island was calling them back for many reasons but would they listen to what it and their various family members and friends had to say.
Juliet, the baby of the family, spent 18 years on the island but she felt stifled and overwhelmed. She felt there was nowhere to go and no opportunities. She left the island for the bright lights of London and in doing so broke Rory’s heart. Now she is returning with her tail between her legs and feels that she is being punished for what she did to Rory. Karma is coming back to bite her and as she arrives back, she is harbouring a secret that she is not quite ready to share with anyone. Will the island which suppressed and smothered her be the one place where she finds the answers and security she seeks, or will she once again flee when things get too tough?
Juliet was definitely one of the characters who totally transformed, and I think it even surprised Miranda and Leo. She took on the running of the guesthouse and the organisation of everything and in doing so it was like she was going back to her roots, exploring the island and finally appreciating what it had to offer. That maybe she had been too regimented in her opinions and that abruptly leaving Rory after making a promise was not the right thing to do. The way she had gone about it was all wrong. Juliet definitely needed to retreat and regroup and combined with an exciting and mysterious storyline surrounding the lighthouse Juliet was a character I watched closely in order to discover the final outcome for her.
Leo arrives back to the island to spend the summer with his two young girls. His ex-wife is away with her new partner, and this is perhaps the longest he has spent with his girls since his marriage broke up. But Leo was very frustrating, his mind was always on other things instead of focusing on his two wonderful children who were so brilliantly written and whom both offered such comedic moments alongside the infamous llama. Leo needed a good shake and to be told, listen here you really need to get your priorities straight. He was so caught up in work and trying to get decent internet that he was neglecting the good things in life. He was only on the island for the summer and should have been prepared to dedicate the time there to giving his girls a wonderful summer. In a way he needed to grow up and realise his parental responsibilities. Perhaps Christabel, a friend of Miranda’s who came to visit the island months ago and never left, will offer him some insights that he badly needs to see and hear.
No doubt about it, for me Summer on Seashell Island is a must read. It’s infused with warmth, humour and human understanding. It’s such a great book that you will be sad when you finish reading it and truly I never wanted it to end. I loved how everything panned out and the last quarter of the book really showed the value of team work, families and community spirit and a sense of we are all in this together and that a problem shared is a problem halved. Some books just really connect with you right from the beginning and you can’t wait to get further and further into the book to see what will happen and this was one of those books. You quickly become oblivious to everything around you and it only mattered that I needed to read this book as Sophie Pembroke nailed every aspect of it. I’m excited to see what she will being us in the future and the greedy side of me really hopes she will bring us a Christmas book this year. In the meantime, grab a copy of this mouth-watering holiday read as soon as you possibly can.
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