This story is about 3 generations of a family who own a summer place in Maine. In 1944 Oliver is a doctor who falls for a nurse Maren. In 1970 their daughter Annie is rebellious and more than a handful until a tragedy strikes. In 2008 Annie's daughter Skye comes to Maine to be with her grandmother like she's done many many times.

I got approved for this book on Edelweiss before NG so Ill post a the same review here also!
But thank you NG and Publisher for this copy!
This was a very good quick.heartwarming read!
A beautifully well written multi generational saga set in Haven Point, Maine. A novel of three generations of women, tied together by love and by their home, Haven Point,
The story line is compelling, the writing is superb and the characters are simply the best!
Made me think of a hallmark movie!

I was thrilled when I was approved to read Haven Point. I like family generational sagas. The story is mostly told from Maren and Skye’s perspectives from WWII-2008. I liked the setting, a Maine beach house and how three generations kept summering there. Maren and Skye were interesting to read about. I thought some of the supporting characters played good roles like Georgie and Dorothy. The scene with Sassy at the art show was hilarious! I laughed so hard as I was reading it. Hume has written a satisfactory beach read about one family’s story through trials and tribulations.

Haven Point by Virginia Hume is a novel focused on generations of the Demarest family in Haven Point, Maine. The town is very exclusive and not very welcoming to outsiders as Maren learned soon after marrying Dr. Demarest. Will she ever be accepted as a Haven Pointer? As they have children will the children feel a part of the summer regulars or always be considered outsiders? As the years go by and the houses sold to new people will the opinions of the community change with the times? The story begins during WWII in at Walter Reed hospital where Oliver Demarest is a surgeon and Maren is a nurse. It continues to follow their children and grandchild into the 1990’s.
I found this story to be interesting and the characters and community attitudes mirrored the times they were living in. I found the story line drew me in and it was hard to put the book down once I started reading. I wanted to know what would happen next to Maren and her family. Maren was a woman of strong character and had a never give up attitude that stayed with her throughout her life. There were situations in the book that were difficult to read through but they were handled realistically. I give this book a solid 5 of 5 stars for the writing and real life of the story.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun read. A beautiful setting, family secrets and drama, interesting characters. I enjoy stories that bounce between various time periods to be able to get to the “story behind the story.” This book was all that and I look forward to reading more from this author.

While waiting for my ebook I won a physical arc and was able to read this last month. Here is the review I’ve already posted to Goodreads:

This is a debut book that has a beautiful setting and follows three generations of women. Three different timelines are presented with good character development. Family and what’s truly important are presented by the author. Highly recommend for those who enjoy a family saga.

4 STARS for Haven Point by Virginia Hume.

Perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Kristin Hannah, Haven Point follows three generations of women, (Maren, Annie, and Skye) at their beautiful summer cottage in Maine. Under the picturesque and idyllic surface that Haven Point seems to be, cracks begin to form and secrets are revealed in this sweeping multigenerational saga that spans several decades and explores themes of motherhood, forgiveness, and grief.

I enjoyed Haven Point and can’t wait to read more from Virginia Hume in the future. It is the perfect beach read for this summer. It has a ton of heart without being too gritty. I look forward to recommending this novel to our blog audience and will keep it as a contender as a potential monthly book club for our organization.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A sweeping family saga about three generations of women and the summer home that divides and unites them. In the book’s opening pages a hurricane barrels towards the coast of Maine, but that’s not so unusual to the denizens of Haven Point, the snug community tucked into the rocky shoreline where three generations of Demarest women have found joy and suffered tragedy. Grandmother Maren has come to love the tight-knit community she married into, while her daughter and granddaughter found it to be snobbish and suffocating. The story unfolds in three timelines, set in 1944, 1970, and 2008, each closely following one generation of women, and illuminating the devastating secret that must be revealed before the hurricane makes landfall. Taking readers from the wartime corridors of Walter Reed hospital to the contemporary summer singalongs in the rec hall, this wistful debut is perfect for those who want to follow characters through their lifetimes, examine complex family relationships, or enjoy a good redemption story.

Haven Point had me at multigenerational family saga set in Maine and it did not let me go. I flew through this book. It follows an upscale family through three generations while they summer at their family home on Haven Point, Maine. The book has everything family secrets, mystery, romance, rivalries that last generations. It perfectly captures life in an insular island community and how it feels not to quite fit in. All of the characters are interesting and well-developed and Haven Point is almost another character. This would be a great book group read.

The underlying theme of this book seems to be: Snobby alcoholic adulterous WASPs really aren't that bad after all!

My favorite part is probably that the main character justifies spending 3 months a year away from her husband because otherwise they'd have to spend the summer in Washington, D.C.! Oh horror of horrors!

Beautifully written. Fans of Elin Hildebrand will love this. Family saga set on the coast of Maine. Loved it/

I tried to like this book but felt it was rather boring. It goes through several generations of an elite family spending their summers at Haven Point on the Maine coast. I didn’t think anyone did anything extraordinary; they were all normal people living normal lives with no outstanding events. I received an arc of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.

I have reviewed this novel for New York Journal of Books where it will be posted the evening prior to the release date.


"Haven Point" by Virginia Hume
St. Martin's Press
June 8, 2021
10-1250266521
Women's Fiction

Haven Point, a small secluded coastal town in Maine, is where well-to-do families spend their summers to escape the heat from places such as Washington, D.C., New York, etc. These part-time residents are somewhat snobby and tend to stick together snubbing the full-time locals. This novel involves the lives of three generations of the Demarest family and the many secrets they hold, the pain they share, and the love they hold for each other.

Commencing in 1944, we meet Maren Larsen, a young woman from the farming community of Ada, Minnesota, who decides to become a nurse to aid the wounded soldiers returning home from war. Working at Walter Reed Hospital, she is steadfast in her attention to a particular young man named Brian, who is suffering severe burns and amputations. Through his pain, he proves to be quite the flirt, and Maren's reaction to him lifts his mood, which her supervisor decides will aid his recovery. Though her ministrations are top-notch, he passes away, leaving Maren bereft and heading outside to the garden clear her head and question her abilities:

"Twining around her grief was a thread of shame. How capable she had thought she was, how helpful. For weeks, she had operated under the unconscious belief that if she tried hard enough, she could keep Private Brian O'Neill alive. Preposterous, of course, but looking back, she realized it had underscored all her actions.

"The realization gave rise to an unpleasant thought. What did it mean that she hadn't been successful? What did Maren have to offer that was special?"

As she ruminates over what she believes is her failure, Dr. Oliver Demarest joins her to extend comfort. Captivated by the handsome young doctor since they first met, she knows they are from different backgrounds, so she tries not to dwell on the attraction she has for him.

Oliver, from a prominent Boston family, is mesmerized by her selflessness and empathy, and before long they become a couple, later marrying, and building a life in Washington, D.C. Maren remains home raising their three children and spends the summers with them and her irascible mother-and father-in-law in their summer manse named Fourwinds, located high on a cliff on the coast of Maine. Though she feels like an outsider, she takes pride in her home and family and is especially solicitous of her in-laws, primarily her mother-in-law, Pauline, who is sinking into senility as well as alcoholism.

We advance to the summer of 1970 and Maren and her children: Billy, Annie, and Charlie are enjoying the seaside. Maren is pleased with how her introverted child Charlie blossoms away from D.C., and proud Annie and he are close. When a tragic accident occurs, the family withdraws. The Vietnam war is escalating, so Billy enlists in the service, and Annie at age 17, becomes rebellious, seeking out the companionship of a local young man of whom her parents do not approve. Annie's love of her seaside home becomes acrimonious, and she states she will never set foot there again. All the while, Maren is alone with only a few close friends, for Oliver is spending more time at work.

Annie's life becomes chaotic as she turns to alcohol and drugs, yet she loves being a single mom to daughter Skye. Her behavior causes them to move many times because her drinking makes her employment unpredictable.

As Skye matures admirably despite her tumultuous upbringing, she is both fearful and displeased by her mother's behavior. She works with the communications staff for a D.C. congressman. When she spouts some personal "off-the-record" information to a local reporter, she is immediately fired. Now at a crossroads, she worries about her future.

When Skye checks up on her mom one day, she finds her in the bathtub deceased. Was this an accidental overdose, or did Annie deliberately commit suicide? Considering their relationship had many ups and downs, Skye loves her mother, and now distraught, she heads to Maine to be with her grandmother. She brings Annie's ashes to be disposed of there not understanding why her mother made this request if she despised the area so much. While with her gran, Skye discovers some secrets about her mother's past and gains insight into her long-time destructive behavior. Maren discloses some facts as to why Annie self-destructed:

"'Do you think Mom would have eventually told me all of this herself?'

"'I do. She was still trying to work through her feelings, but I feel certain she would have. The provision in her will said either of us could scatter her ashes. So, at the very least, we know she was prepared to outlive me . . .' Gran stopped and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she continued, her voice shaky. 'Had I died first it would have fallen to you. She was hard to understand at times, but it would not have been like her to leave some puzzle for you to decode.' . . .

. . . "'The other day, when we were discussing your job, you referred to the chaos you grew up with. I agreed with what you said, and I still do, but I do think you have conflated some things in your mind.'

'''Like what?'

"'I think, Skye, you experienced your mother's creativity and passion, her disorganization and chaos, and her drinking as one big mess.'

"'Wasn't it?"

"'Here's why it's important for you to know this.'

"Gran took her hand. 'You got all the good, Skye. You have her humor and her intelligence. And you have her creativity, even if yours runs in another direction. But you got none of the bad, your life will never be like hers, like what you experienced growing up.' Gran paused and looked at her closely. 'That was never the danger.'"

A glance into the lives of three distinct and formidable females raised lives in different eras shows understanding, acceptance, binding ties, and the love sustaining them. From losing relations to dealing with infidelity, hurricanes, war conflicts, and confidences held, we get an inside view of how these women survived through more than seven decades yet remained strong and steadfast in their devotion to each other.

Haven Point is the debut novel by author Virginia Hume. It’s a beautiful story that covers four generations of the Demarest family spanning over 70 years. They own a summer home up on the cliffs along the shores of Maine in a place called Haven Point. This is where the wives and children go to spend the summers while the husbands are back at home going to work. It’s residents seem to be a little on the snobbish side and set in their ways and don’t take kindly to outsiders. This story primarily centers around the females in this family. It tells of their daily struggles with trying to fit in, and reveals some of their hidden truths. Throughout the story it covers many topics, wars, infidelity, hurricanes, the death of a child and acceptance and forgiveness. It was a very enjoyable read for me and I especially liked reading about the location. It was like I could picture it all perfectly in my mind. I’d like to thank Erica Martirano, Senior Associate Director of Marketing at St. Martin’s Group for the invite and NetGalley for the arc to read, review and enjoy. This was a beautiful story and I’m looking forward to reading more by this author in the future. I’m giving this a 4 star rating.

I adored this story. I kept looking at my percentage on my kindle of progress, not because I wanted it to be over, because I didn’t want it to end. I found myself slowing down or re-reading some chapters, just so I didn’t miss anything. That is saying a lot for me. This book had me in the first chapter and never let go.
I won’t go on and on about all that I loved about this book, but I will say the writing is lovely, the descriptions are beautiful, the storyline is flawless and the characters are perfect. I felt as if I was a vacationer for three months out of the year going to Haven Point with the Demarest family, sitting alongside them in the weekly sing along. Maren was my favorite and a close second was Pauline, I was so belly laughing when Georgie and Maren had her in the wheel barrel and then there was once I had tears running down my face. I cannot explain how this author pulled out so many emotions.
To me, Virginia Hume is right up there with Pat Conroy and William Kent Krueger. (two of my favorites).
I want to thank St. Martin’s Press along with NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an ARC. This one is the highest 5 stars I have to give. Sweet book!!

I loved this multi-generational tale of beautiful, flawed women and the passions and prejudices that hinder their lives.

The secluded, privileged community of Haven Point is delightful to those who grew up enjoying sailing, tennis and clam bakes each summer but for those who breach the ramparts because of love, or see past the glamor to a community of judgemental individuals determined to keep things insular and controled, Haven Point is no haven but a hotbed of snide comments and being judged because you are seen with the wrong people.

Maren, Annie and Skye are grandmother, mother and daughter. They all have a complicated relationship with Haven Point and it's inhabitants. Tragedy, love, competitiveness and heartache are felt by all but it is the community as a whole that shine through when needed. Hume has written these women's personality with such skill. I was never annoyed by their stubbornness or inability to see beyond the narrative they had created for themselves. My favorite character was Maren. She is wise, clever, beautiful, creative, a wonderful mother, wife, friend.

I look forward to seeing what Virginia Hume writes next. Thanks to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC, this is my honest review.

Virginia Hume’s debut novel Haven Point names a coastal vacation community in Maine where the Demarest family spends their summers. Cadet nurse Maren met Dr. Oliver Demarest at Walter Reed Medical Center during World War II, which readers learn in a flashback.

The story begins in August of 2008 with Maren waiting in Haven Point for her granddaughter Skye to arrive from Washington, D.C. Together they will decide where to scatter Skye’s mother Annie’s ashes.

The plot pivots along multiple timelines as readers learn about the Demarest’s summers when Maren raises three children and cares for Oliver’s alcoholic mother while he remains at his D.C. orthopedic practice. Being an outsider in a swanky resort community, Maren is never accepted by some members though she deals with them with grace and dignity. The community shows its true colors when a tragedy strikes the Demarests.

In the next generation, Annie’s bouts with rehab bounces her daughter Skye from her home with her mother to living periodically with her grandparents, spending time in Haven Point where Skye, too, is treated like an outsider.

Only when all family secrets are revealed will Skye come to terms with her life and her mother’s death.

Virginia Hume, a freelance writer and editor, began her career in politics and public affairs having served as Deputy Press Secretary for the Republican National Committee in the 1990s. She is the daughter of American journalist and political commentator Brit Hume. She lives outside Washington, D.C., with her family.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting April 4, 2021.

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

HAVEN POINT by Virginia Hume is a multi-generational family saga spanning over seven decades of summers spent in an exclusive seaside enclave on the coast of Maine. The story is told mainly in three time periods, 1944, 1970 and 2008, and alternating between the perspectives of Maren Demarest and her granddaughter, Skye. In 1944, Maren Larsen leaves behind her family and the small Minnesota farming town where she lives to become a cadet nurse in Washington, DC during World War II. There she meets and marries Dr. Oliver Demarest whose prominent and wealthy Boston family has spent their summers in Haven Point, Maine for generations. Maren is never fully accepted by the neighbors, but she does her best to make herself and their children fit in. During the summer of 1970, tragedy befalls the Demarest family, changing their lives forever. In the aftermath, their teen daughter Annie refuses to ever set foot on Haven Point again and when she has a daughter of her own, Annie passes on her negative views to Skye. Upon Annie’s tragic death in 2008, Maren summons Skye to Haven Point to share long-buried family secrets that she hopes will give Skye some insight into her mother. Alternating between past and present, the reader learns what happened to this family during that fateful summer of 1970. Relationships between mothers and their children are at the heart of this story. There is drama, suspense and plenty of emotion woven throughout. The descriptions of the setting in Maine were so vivid, I felt like I was there. I thoroughly enjoyed this sweeping debut novel and highly recommend it. I look forward to reading more from the author in the future. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy.

Three generations of Demarest women find their lives influenced by the island community of Haven Point, Maine.

Maren is a bride whose husband, Oliver, is from Haven Point and his stern parents do not welcome an 'outsider'. Maren has Annie, and two sons, Billy and Charlie. Annie has a daughter, Skye, who spends her life living on and off of the island shuffling between her mother and her grandmother. A hurricane bears down on the island in 2008 making it the perfect time for Maren to explain her life since 1944 and how Haven Point has affected them all since then.

Be aware of time periods at the start of most chapters to get yourself prepared for the world during that era.

Virginia Hume's Haven Point is a truly inspirational novel emphasizing the strength of three generations of women--family and how love and loyalty binds together. From World War II until 2008 the tie that bound Maren, Annie, and Skye with its secrets and repetitions, remained unbroken. This is an outstanding novel that you won't want to miss.