Barefoot

Barefoot, by Elin Hilderbrand.

Still no flicker of interest from Peter. Peter thought of Josh as the help. A servant, a slave. Whereas Peter was the husband, the neighbor, the peer, the equal, the chieftain in Melanie's real life. But Peter Patchen was also a genuine crumb who cheated and lied - that was Melanie's real life.

I have read Elin Hilderbrand's stuff before and it was pretty good, so upon recommendation from fellow blogger Lori, I decided to read Barefoot. Although it has a picture of a beach on the cover and may well be considered a "beach read," it definitely goes beyond that, and I ended up liking it a lot. The novel is about Vicki and Brenda, sisters, and their friend Melanie, all of whom end up staying at Vicki and Brenda's tiny Nantucket cottage for the summer. Melanie is running away from her cheating husband, Peter, whom she hasn't yet told that she is pregnant; Vicki is trying to get away from the fact that she has lung cancer; and Brenda is avoiding a major scandal involving her at the university at which she taught. The summer changes all of them for the better, however, and the way that the plot unfolds makes for a great book and fun read.

4 out of 5 stars.