I expected more from this book. This book came with so much praise, but it just did not hold my interest. I feel the storyline was just too flat.

Loved reading about Montauk in the 1930’s. As a native New Yorker I really enjoyed Nicola Harrison’s description of Montauk as an up and coming summer location for the rich and famous. Ms. Harrison does an excellent job describing the beautiful landscape, and her characters are extremely well defined. Montauk, by Nicola Harrison combines a little romance, history and a lot of humor. This was a wonderfully light and easy read, and I highly recommend picking up a copy. ( Especially anyone who has seen Montauk grow into the wonderful summer destination it now is).

I am thankful for the opportunity to review a complimentary copy of this book, but oh my word it leaves me with mixed feelings.

1). It is an excellent read. It's engaging, colourful, and very well composed. Any objections to this book are not to the style or pace of writing, to the setting, or the author's way with words - she most definitely has a way with words. It is a well-written novel for sure.

2). I am a little upset (a lot upset) with the ending. I had some suspicions, but after all we went through side-by-side with our protagonists, I felt bereft and betrayed by the end of the book.

3). I'm not sure I love the all rich people are bored and incapable of faithfulness trope. It felt a little overdone in this one. Just my meagre opinion so take this with a grain of salt.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this piece, but almost felt guilty doing so. It sucked me in, but at the same time I disliked so many of the actions that created the ballast of the story. It's well-written and brought me to tears more than once. I was a close observer and felt everything as presented. In that it's a successful beautiful read.

Harrison did a fantastic job of creating a beautiful setting of Monatuk in the late 1930's. Her descriptive words brought you back in time. Unfortunately, I found that I did not connect with the characters, without the connection I did not really care about them, in fact I got annoyed by several of the characters. The story was easy to see what was going to happen, and although there was a tragedy towards the end, I was not emotionally vested enough to have it really affect me. I would prefer to give the story a 3.5, based on the beautiful descriptive writing done by the author, as it makes it worth reading the book.

A lovely atmospheric novel. The author does a wonderful job of capturing the feeling of the area and the community at that time. A wonderful debut novel!

The book was fantastic. This was my first time reading Nicola Harrison and it won’t be my last! Do your self a favour and pick up her lastest now!

This is a fantastic debut novel that we won't soon forget. If you're looking for the perfect end-of-summer read, we've found it for you. While there may not be many "I didn't see that coming" moments, the romance, seaside setting, intimate look at class structures, and the admirable woman (Beatrice) finding her footing on her own will keep you reading.

Lovely feel good read. It was well written and flowed well. I enjoyed it very much. The plot was good and interesting. Hard to put down

A beautifully woven tale of pre-war Manhattanites and their summer escape destination and who they strive to portray that lifestyle.

This book was well written and enjoyable but a bit predictable. I appreciated the historical information about the setting. .

By now I’m quite sure or hope that many of you have read Montauk, one of the best summer reads for 2019. It is, however, a engrossing tale that surpasses the usual summer fare making it a delight to read any time. Set in the pre-WWII days of New York, it is the story of a woman who married “above her station” without fully comprehended all that would involve. When her husband tells that they are going to travel to Montauk for the summer, she assumes they will be there together. Sadly, she was mistaken and soon learns that not only is she alone, her husband is cheating on her with any woman who will allow it. Feeling displaced with the rich at the resort, she turns to the people who actually live in Montauk, the town, where she discovers friendship, grudging acceptance and more.

I don’t usually read books set in the era as it is one of my least favorite times in American history. However, Montauk – the resort area – was actually envisioned and created by a developer from my home state. He built a resort here in Indiana and also developed Miami Beach, Florida. Naturally, my curiosity got the best of me. Montauk, the book, is more than just a romance or even historical fiction, it is a story of a woman trapped in the male dominated world of the early 20th century, a world full of lies, hypocrisy, misogyny and class wars. Her struggle becomes the struggle of all women from that era and one that many women today can relate to as well. The writing is brilliant, the characters come alive off of the pages and the story line is unforgettable. I highly recommend Montauk to any and all!

Beatrice Bordeaux is just such great name for a protagonist of a book about a wealthy couple in 1938 who 'summer' in Montauk. Really the wives and children stay and the husbands come on weekends. The backdrop of the fancy hotel and the goings on there play key roles in the development and growth of Bea.
Beatrice is from a small town in Pennsylvania and the clique-ishness and whispers of the women of Montauk just do not seem compatible to her emotions or common sense. She tries to fit in for the sake of her banker husband Harry as they are trying to have a baby and she wants him to be successful.
At the time of the book Montauk, Long Island was a small fishing village the rich were trying to take over. Bea finds her self connecting more with the people of the village. Without being spoiler-y there are DEFINITE consequences.
I really like this book because it was the right amount of fluff, it felt well researched, the characters developed (or in the case of Harry I wanted to crawl in the book and KICK him).

I received an electronic copy of this book for free from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a beautiful, tragic, heartbreaking book. I enjoyed every minute of it although I did cry a lot. I love books that can evoke such strong emotions.
I am looking forward to Nicola Harrison's next book!

I chose to read this book because of the title. Montauk is a beguiling place and I was interested to learn a little of its social history through a work of fiction. I didn’t and don’t care how historically accurate it is as a piece of work but have been pleasantly surprised to find that some of events and places that I became curious about by reading it were spot on.

The tale is set between the World Wars, predominantly in the summer of 1938. It is as much a tale of class as it is of love, set against a backdrop of turbulent times, not just in America but across the world. Reference is made to the huge financial losses suffered by many in the USA after the Wall Street Crash not so long before and whilst an air of opportunity is being sniffed at by some, it is tempered by cavernous gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. Harrison conjures up a vivid illustration of the inconsequential lives of the high society women/wives who descend on Montauk en masse each summer and comparison is stark with those residents of Montauk, who struggle to make ends meet.

Beatrice has very little in common with the women she is forced to spend her summer with at The Montauk Manor but agrees to go in the hope of rekindling her marriage to her philandering husband, Harry. She falls in love with a local and we watch her come to terms with what she has been labelled as and her true sense of being.

Harrison’s writing transported me to another time and place, both of which I was fascinated by. Her characters were well written, if not all likeable! I was ready to be disappointed by a saccharine ending but was instead shocked leaving me both pleased and upset at once. As a debut novel, this has left me on the lookout for her next book....we’ll done Nicola!

From my blog: Always With a Book:

Having grown up on Long Island and recently moved back, I always love when I find books set in towns here. So of course, I was excited to have been sent this debut novel by Nicola Harrison...and let's just take a moment to admire this beautiful cover...isn't it so striking? I'm such a fan of a good cover and this one is so stunning, yet so simple!

I loved that this whole novel was set in 1938. Yes, I've really come to enjoy dual narratives, but it was so refreshing to have a historical novel all told in one timeframe, from one point of view. It really has such a great sense of time and place - Montauk in the late 1930s really comes alive as a fishing village and you really felt the divide of class between the haves and the have-nots.

This is such a great character study of a woman who is really struggling to find her place. I loved the main character, Beatrice. She is such a strong woman who is held back by the standards of her time. She is supposed to be a "good wife" and do as she is told, which according to her husband, Harry, is to hang out with the high society women at the manor, while he is spending his time in NYC, drinking and cavorting with other women. As Beatrice feels she doesn't fit in with these women, she ends up making friends with the locals.

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed seeing Montauk as it was in 1938 and am desperate to find local history books to see just how it looked back then. And of course, I will definitely be heading out there to visit one day soon - it's been ages since I last took a trip to Montauk! I definitely recommend picking this book up - the writing is beautiful and you will find yourself completely immersed in the story. I will certainly be keeping an eye out for what comes next from this author for sure!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.Location, location, location! Montauk, Long Island, 1938.

Beatrice (Bea) and Harry are going to be spending 3 months in the summer of 1938 at the coastal little fishing village of Montauk. Bea hopes she will be able to rekindle the passion in her marriage. Instead, Harry spends a lot of time away from Bea for work. She gets to know some of the women staying at Montauk Manor, while Harry spends a lot of time in the city. Let's go ahead and add it is not all work.

As things unfold, Bea gets to know several locals and enjoys their company more than her haughty "Wives of New York" friends. (my nickname). She begins to spend a lot of time up at the lighthouse and when her husband's infidelities are revealed, she takes comfort with a certain lighthouse keeper. But there is more here. She also becomes a writer of stories for a the local paper. She finds her voice. Bea became a character I grew to really like and identify with. By the end she made me proud !

Many thanks to the publisher via Netgalley who provided me with a digital copy to read for review. I enjoyed the characters and setting . I highly recommend it!

I heard a lot about this book and saw it advertised a lot before I was approved to read it. I was not let down. It was a great story and very well written and I loved it. I highly recommend it to everyone.

Montauk is the debut novel by author Nicola Harrison, a huge thanks to NetGally for letting me review this book.

I'll be honest, at first I was a bit skeptical with the first few chapters, but once it started to pick up I couldn't put it down! Beatrice's character grew on me and towards the end of the book I had so much respect and love for her. She is such a strong woman, my heart broke for her so much.

There are so many surprises throughout the book which makes it such a gripping read. The story itself is beautifully written, the characters are charming and elegant. The whole book oozes glamour and scandal which makes it even more special.

Harrison certainly knows how to write and I can't wait to hear of other books in the works by this sensational author. it is easily one of the best books that I have read this year so far. If you're looking for something new or if you're into your era reads, then look no further than Montauk.

This one is slow and steady, atmospheric, and easy like Sunday morning. There was nothing surprising in here, but the difference was the characters, the setting, and the writing was wonderful. To clarify, by nothing surprising I mean that you have a case of girl marries man, man is not who she thinks he is, girl is forced to spend the summer in an environment of rich, mean women and she is not like them, but girl does not conform, instead she finds her voice, and you can probably take it from there. That being said, this is set in Montauk, NY, right before it becomes a booming vacation spot, and the author describes this place so vividly that you feel as if you are there. The locals were charming, and no wonder Beatrice wanted to spend her time with them. As for Beatrice herself, I was absolutely endeared to her and rooting for her the entire time. She really comes into her own, even when it feels as if her situation is hopeless, and yet she still has moments of weakness, where you want to shake her and tell her to get up and deal (she does). Those are the types of strong female leads that I cannot get enough of.

I could not believe this was a debut novel, and am very much looking forward to the next thing from Nicola Harrison. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for an ARC of this book.


Montauk is a place for the elite, the richest of the rich. This is a story of how Montauk was in the late 30's, beginning to be populated with the wealthy. A destination for the summer, Montauk becomes the host to both those who serve the wealthy and the secrets of the wealthy. The story follows Beatrice, who doesn't quite fit in with the typical folk on the island. Her husband Harry, a charmer and smooth talker, is well known in the town.

This story was slow to start, but I'm glad I kept with it. The last half of the book flew by. I kept wanting to know what secrets would be revealed. A great, entertaining read. Perfect for the beach or a cozy winter day.