Beach House Reunion (The Beach House)

So glad that Mary Alice Monroe has kept this storyline going. It's the perfect read for a summer vacation or a lounging day at home...PLEASE keep writing about the Beach House! I Love where you've taken each of the characters.

Absolutely loved the Beach House series! This whole series is a must read! I really enjoyed the love of the ocean and how they always find there way back to the beach house and all the memories they have there.

Mary Alice Monroe’s stories never disappoint, whether it is a new novel or a continuation of a series. However, new readers should realize each novel in a series can be stand alone - never worry about feeling like you are intruding. Beach House Reunion happens to be another novel in the Beach House series. And this one delivers more than any reader could expect.

All of Monroe’s novels have an environmental connection and in this series, it is the loggerhead turtles (classified as a threatened species and likely to changed to endangered). They nest on ocean beaches, including along the coast of South Carolina. The loggerheads are intricately woven into the Beach House novels, and each chapter of this novel starts with interesting educational facts about loggerheads. I so enjoyed learning more about these magnificent creatures that inspire such passion in Mary Alice Monroe.

“All roads lead home.” So begins the next story of the reunion of our beloved Beach House friends. I needed this book to bring closure to several areas in Cara’s life. There were many sad tears followed by more and more happy tears. This was a powerful ending to an amazing series. I hope to meet my Beach House friends again one day- even if it’s only by re-reading these books.

There must be something magical in the light refractions off the marshy surfaces of the submergent South Carolina coastline where the Atlantic Ocean meets with the tidal rivers at Charleston that attracts, inspires and nurtures the many gifted writers like Mary Alice Monroe who call this unique place home.

“The Beach House”, published in 2002, was her breakthrough, main stream novel that introduced Caretta (Cara) Rutledge and many of the characters who became more familiar in its sequel, “Swimming Lessons”, 2007. “Beach House Memories” could be considered a prequel as the main protagonist was Olivia “Lovie” Rutledge who was residing in her beachfront ‘Primrose’ cottage with her daughter Cara. This was my introduction to her finely crafted novels which address complex family relationships and never shy away from depictions of issues such as domestic abuse, alcoholism, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, agoraphobia, aging and death as well as gently educate readers about coastal environmental concerns. Her books are captivating, the characters vivid and engaging, warm and sympathetic yet flawed by relatable human frailities one might find in their own family. The novels are stand-alone works but I suspect most readers will be enthralled by the Rutledge family and friends and will eagerly welcome each addition as I have done.

“Beach House Reunion” finds a sadder, seasoned and widowed Cara Rutledge back in her haven Primrose Cottage forging new bonds with the next generation as her niece Linnea, a recent college graduate, comes to spend a summer with her. Like her previous works, this is a light yet soul satisfying read, well-suited for book discussion groups.

Mary Alice Monroe is a practiced painter of word pictures of South Carolina Lowcountry, as adept a writer as Pat Conroy, Cassandra King and Dorothea Benton Frank in creating lasting works of fiction with heart and soul. I hope this is not the end of a heart-warming series.