Sounds like a simple premise but this is Barbara Delinsky so forget about simple. Simply marvelous would be so much more appropriate. So we are in Bay Bluff Rhode Island visiting family for a week – hence A WEEK AT THE SHORE. Again simple, concise and once again a reminder Barbara Delinsky. Think of Coast Road and it will all make sense.
Mallory Aldiss and her thirteen-year-old daughter Joy are making a surprise visit to Bay Bluff to check on her aging father. His behavior is causing problems and angst. And as it upsets Mallory, she knows it is prudent to see what is going on. Add to that Joy is bursting to see Bay Bluff. In thirteen years neither have set foot in Mallory’s hometown. Mallory entertains her sisters Anne and Margo in the safety of her home in New York.
Returning is sure to dredge up memories, good and bad. And of course, facing people she hasn’t seen in years – for some now going on twenty.
Lots of Mallory to think about. Perhaps a good look at the place that holds a lot of memories and a chance to make new ones. Mallory must face new realities. Her father hasn’t change since the early years but there is a new connection being forged. Joy is loving having family around. It hasn’t always been so.
And there are people in Bay Bluff whose images in Mallory’s mind may be softening.
Three sisters grew up at Bay Bluff. The father a lawyer and judge who ruled the family like his courtroom. The mother seemed to allow the father to rule the roost until events changed the entire family dynamics. That event is central to A WEEK AT THE SHORE.
Secrets have so many facets and unfortunately, they tend to fester. The sisters Margo, Mallory and Anne, each had such a different place in this family and in their reaction to what happened twenty years ago. Mother and daughters Mallory and Margo carved out new independent lives. Anne stayed with her father. And now Mallory is back trying to find some truths.
Time is not on her side. Her visit has a small window of a week. Her dad’s memory is questionable. And her welcome home is shrinking daily. Her sister Anne makes no attempt to hide the fact that her help isn’t welcome and there is that feeling that Mallory can’t escape from that Anne is wary of her help and questions.
All three sisters had enormously different relationship with their parents. This was not a warm loving family. Each walked away with hurt and insecurities. Some secrets are best left unknown or are they.
And it doesn’t help matters that the next-door neighbor and one-time friend Jack would really like to unlock those secrets.
Enter the world of Barbara Delinsky. A WEEK AT THE SHORE is a discovery of not only who these characters are but how they got there and luckily, we have Barbara Delinsky to lead us on the path to discovery. Simply put Barbara Delinsky constructs some of the best characters and their interpersonal relationships make the pages just fly by. A WEEK AT THE SHORE is a beautiful story. Like life there is beauty and ugliness but A WEEK AT THE SHORE handles truth.

Delinsky delves into the relationships of three sisters that was altered 20 years ago my a scandal involving their parents and neighbors. When all sisters return to Bay Bluff, they find answers to questions that have haunted them for years. A book about going home to your roots and the deep bind between sisters that is hard to break.

Who wouldn't love a week at the shore? Especially when going to the shore means visiting the place you grew up. But going home means confronting a first love, seeing family that you haven't seen in years, and introducing your own daughter to all that you left behind.

A Week at the Shore rebuilds long lost relationships and answers some mysteries along the way.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book for my honest review.

I have been a Barbara Delinsky fan for a very long time.. this book about family and all the complexities that come with it,.did not disappoint me. It is well written with great character development. Make sure you read A Week At The Shore. It is a winner

Barbara Delinsky is one of my top 5 favorite authors. She tells such good stories and has realistic characters. This book is no different. A Week At The Shore has a few twists and turns that keep you interested until the end. It is about three sisters, their rather dysfunctional family and friends. The beginning of the story was a little difficult for me to sink my teeth into but the story slowly developed as well as the characters. Mallory is the middle daughter. She lives in New York with her daughter, Joy. Mallory has been estranged from her family for twenty years or so. She got pregnant with Joy via a sperm donor. Joy is desperate for an extended family. Isn’t that enough to draw you into the book? See what I mean, she’s a great story teller. I will definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a great read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest review.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

There was a lot to absorb in this story about three sisters and the estrangement they've suffered for years. There's a cantankerous old father, an old boyfriend, and a mystery they'd like to solve. Definitely makes you think about your own relationship with siblings. I enjoyed the story. Thanks to St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader copy.

A Week at the Shore by Barbara Delinsky is about family and all the complexities that come with them. Mallory returns back home with her daughter after a phone call from an old boyfriend because her dad has shown up at his house with a gun. Her dad has Alzheimer’s and her sister, Amy, is living with him. Returning home brings back all the questions and problems that were the reasons Mallory left. Questions are answered, and family bonds are healed.

Enjoyed this classic Barbara Delinsky book with it's well-developed characters and intriguing storyline. Could so much happen in one week when Mallory, the main character, decides to visit her has hometown where she's not set foot for 20 years? Probably not, but it is fiction and it kept me engaged from start to finish with a nice mix of troubled family relations, a mysterious disappearance, and a lost love.

Another thought provoking book by Delinsky. The characters absolutely jump off the page and into the reader's heart and mind. A fragile parent, and three sisters that have had very little contact with each for 20 years,. and newly minted teenager make for an interesting visit at the old homestead.. A lot can happen in a week and this particular week was a barn burner. Very fun book..

In Barbara Delinsky's newest novel, one week changes lives as relationships are re-examined, rekindled and renewed. 

One week, usually not much happens in that amount of time, but for the characters in this novel past and present come together as old hurts along with family secrets and relationships surface along with questions about a disappearance. 

Protagonist Mallory lives with her thirteen-year-old daughter Joy in New York where she has a busy life as a photographer.   Mallory's camera allows her to both be creative and to look at the world through her own (literal) lens.  Mallory's sister Anne lives in the Rhode Island town that Mallory left behind. Anne cares for her father, runs a (delicious sounding) breakfast restaurant, The Sunny Side Up and tries to decide what she wants from a relationship.  Third sister Margo has also left town and lives in Chicago with her family.  The three sisters reunite at the shore.

Also in Rhode Island is Mallory's boyfriend from her younger years.  They had a serious falling out when Jack's mother disappears from Mallory's father's boat, not to be heard from for over twenty years.   What happened to her?  What was the involvement of Mallory's father?  Did he cause her death?  Did she die? Will he talk?  This is one of the big mysteries of the novel but there are others including the question of Mallory's paternity.

I grew up in Rhode Island where the book is set.   To me the town seemed generic though, like any beach town, not especially RI-ey.  However, the town was charming and readers will wisht that they could visit there.

This is a solid novel that kept me turning the pages.  It was not my favorite book by this author but I definitely enjoyed it and do recommend it to those who enjoy women's fiction.  I preferred Ms. Delinsky's last novel, Before and Again but that just means that you could read both!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

Margo, Mallory and Anne are sisters who grew up in a shore community in Rhode Island, daughters of a prominent lawyer/judge and mother. Their lives include many secrets and conflicts and the author doesn’t waste any time immersing us in it.

As the story begins, Mallory and her daughter return to visit for a week, and an amazing number of events and revelations are packed into the next five days. During this time, we learn there were a number of conflicts and tragic events 20 years ago, and seemingly all the family members disperse, except for Anne, who stays to make a life for herself and takes care of her father as he ages.

Despite all the information revealed in the last quarter of the book, I didn’t feel that I had a total understanding of the characters. Especially missing for me was an understanding of Mallory’s life in the years since she left home (presumably important because those were really her formative years). As a result, I felt a lack of empathy for the sisters, who were dealing with a whole bunch of really challenging situations.

I’m a big fan of books that take place at the beach, stories of sisters, and Barbara Delinsky. This wasn’t one of my favorites of her books. But, I still thank Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read A Week at the Shore in exchange for an honest review.

Well-written, full-bodied characters created by the master of women's fiction, Barbara Delinsky. 4 1/2 stars out of 5.

Mallory Aldiss is a middle child, the peacemaker in her shattered family. As an adult, Mallory is a successful real estate photographer in NYC. When her daughter Joy (13) wants to spend the summer in Bay Bluff to get to know her grandfather & Aunt Anne, Mallory agrees on one week of vacation time. Coming home for Mallory has mixed emotions when the present is flooded by the past.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the ARC copy of A Week at the Shore. Barbara Delinsky is a master storyteller. This story of Mallory coming home after a long absence to introduce her daughter to her dad and sisters grips your from the start. The details of Rhode Island,;the pain and understanding that you feel and discover about the family dynamics grips your from start to finish. I loved the balance of characters, the real feelings between the sisters while the discover hidden secrets about their parents and each other. I didn’t want it to end

Mallory Aldiss gets a phone call from her ex boyfriend whom she hasn’t spoken to in years, that things are not ok with her father and sister at their home in Westerly RI. She has an odd relationship with her Dad and hasn’t seen him or her sister or her childhood home in years. She finally decides to take her daughter who has never met her grandfather and go home for a week to see what is going on.
Once there, her past is front and center and she has to deal with her family, her ex boyfriend and the scandal that happened when she was growing up.
Will they be able to mend fences and get some clarity? The book kept me wanting to keep reading until all the puzzle pieces were solved.

I love books written by Barbara Delinsky and this is no exception! I must say that after a slow start I did really enjoy the story. A decades old mystery, family relationships between three sisters and their father that must be resolved. A mother and daughter relationship that is made stronger when the past is confronted. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another great book by Barbara Delinsky. It's full of romance, family and enough mystery to keep you turning page after page. Barbara Delinsky never disappoints!
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

In A Week at the Shore, Barbara Delinsky’s latest release, she transports readers to the quaint coastal town of Bay Bluff. Yet Bay Bluff is not just retro diners, seafood shacks and souvenir shops—rather, it’s home to a decades old mystery involving now-retired Judge Thomas Aldiss and his former neighbor/mistress, Elizabeth McKay, a businesswoman who is a.) presumed to be dead and b.) the mother of Jack Sabathian, a major player in a love affair throughout this book. Delinsky is a pro at setting the stage for juicy domestic drama, and A Week at the Shore is no exception.

This book has it all, mystery, suspense, romance, sadness. Such a great story! Barbara Delinsky has done it again! Loved this

A story about three sisters who have a distant relationship. Mallory lives in New York with her teenage daughter and is a successful photographer. She left her Rhode Island home twenty years ago following an incident that left the family broken. Now she receives a phone call and is called back home, not by her sisters, but by Jack, her first love. Her Dad broke his wrist and while Mallory does not want to revisit the past, her daughter, Joy, wants to go as that is where the family roots are. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and found myself drawn in by the characters.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.