This sweeping family drama covers Maren’s life story & connects it to her granddaughter, Skye. It was an interesting & sweet story, showing the impacts that alcohol can have on families (both directly & indirectly). I loved the writing & vivid descriptions, but at times it felt a bit long.
Loved the narration- it definitely helped bring the story & vivid descriptions to life!

Three generations of women live in Haven Point, Maine. Maude finds herself an outsider, having married into a family that lives in Haven Point during WWII. She never quite fits in and has to deal with her new husband's family and the community who thinks that a farm girl is not good enough for their brilliant young doctor from a good Maine family.

Told in three different time periods, Maude, her daughter Annie, and her granddaughter Skye, all have struggles with identity and Haven Point life.

I loved this setting and the class struggle from the inside. I really enjoyed these characters and their relationships and seeing Maine (as I only know it thru Stephen King's words- and this is a very different Maine.)

This book was well written and easily navigated the time periods. I appreciated how the author did not confuse you with too many characters but crafted a solid family saga. I would recommend this book to those wanting a solid book about identity and family.

The audio version was engaging and entertaining. Thank you to Netgalley for this audio advance copy for review.

I enjoyed listening to this book. I laughed and cried. Virginia Hume tells a good story of over 3 generations. The secrets of the families at Haven Point of the haves and have nots goings on. The grief that happens and brings everyone together for the time. It's not until the 3rd generation that all the secrets come to light. I highly reccomend this book.

a great story to escape into - a family saga that spans generations - this would make a great cottage or beach read/or listen like i did with an audio book.

This was a slow build -- it took me about halfway through the book to truly immerse into the story.

I did like the dual timeline, but I thought there was more "flare" to Skye's story.

I appreciate that the ending was tied with a pretty bow.

My Interest

I saw this on Net Galley and it ticked all the summer boxes: Big family saga, World War II to the present, well off people, a close knit summer community. Oh goody! If only I could stand to read at the neighborhood pool it would be perfect! So, thank you Net Galley and here is my honest review.
The Story



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Maren Larsen marries preppy doctor Oliver Demarest during World War II. Though very young he has been put to work at Walter Reed in DC instead of in a field hospital in Europe. Maren is a “cadet nurse” and meets him on the job. Oliver’s family is part of the summer community at Haven Point in Maine. All the Haven Pointers are very well-off, completely WASP-y and even have the same Labrador dogs. Maren is from a farm family in Minnesota, but Oliver loves her.

Maren soon finds out why her new husband is never eager to spend time with his parents. As the years go on Oliver and Maren’s children go to Haven Point and interact with the same summer families–and the same outcast or local families, as all other generations have.

My Thoughts

I wanted to thoroughly immerse myself in this family and love this book. But, I kept forgetting who characters were. Oliver, for instance. He was the one that really made me feel this had been submitted as a 750 page old school family saga, but got whittled down to a few sound bytes per generation to almost meet the suburban book club 300 page maximum (it manages 377 pages). We really never learn anything valuable about the inner workings of any character. Maren just trots off to Maine each year with the kids and puts up with in-laws she doesn’t like to make her Doctor husband happy. She even endures the Preppy mother-in-law acquiring a pet monkey without a single “Is that wise” comment over the cocktails.

Oliver, her husband, the doctor, stays in DC but apparently can’t bear for his children not to grow up in the Haven Point Yacht Club instead of the exact same club closer to home in, say Delaware. Then there is Kahki?? Kathy? (this is a problem with listening to audios–if the name doesn’t appear in the online preview you’re stuck guessing)–who was she again? I couldn’t get a grip on some of these names because we learned to little that mattered about them. Never mind that there is also a man called “Cappy.” I had to remember who he was each time, too.

I think I am going to start ignoring “dual timeline” books [thank you to which ever excellent book blogger admitted that a week or so ago–it was liberating to read it and know I wasn’t the only one]. I’m tired of a book that reads like it’s been thrown up in the air and then put back together–sort of. A family saga should progress through the generations. This one lurched forward, then back, like a car with a manual transmission being driven by a newbie.

Things the editor should have caught:

Sometimes I can ignore stuff–sometimes I can’t. This one kept my interest well enough that I wanted to finish it. But, I could overlook a few things:

It was called “the receiver.” The “handset” came way later when we got cordless phones. Got it?

Hairspray wasn’t around in World War II so forget the ladies with their “sprayed” hair.

No one, until about last year, used the phrase “his truth.” A character would not even have THOUGHT that in the 1960s, but there it was. A Glaring no-no–giving them thoughts out of their era. Not huge, but like a missed note in a solo by a great professional. In spite of that, it WAS ok to use the phrase “her truth” in a modern day scene–though I truly loathe that idea. We value others’ “perceptions.” Their perception may or may not be true. It is asinine to label something “my truth” or “your truth” or whoever’s truth.” There is true and their is false. Perceptions are owned. Truth is not. The phrase is not the author’s fault–just its misuse in a 1960s scene which a better editor would have caught.

Publishers, please hire real editors and fact checkers. Spell Check is neither.

My Verdict
3 Stars

Thank you to the publisher and author for the advance audiobook of Haven Point by Virginia Hume.

The parts of the book that were narrating from Marin's perspective were done well and I really enjoyed. I am not a fan of the narrator who did the parts told from Sky's perspective. She speaks in a way only NPR hosts speak....the Muzac version of audio narration. That was frustrating considering I think the book warrants some enthusiasm.

The story of the novel is about three generations of women and the community of Haven Point they are each tied to. Marin marries into a family from the elite community and struggles to fit in Haven Point that sticks close to its own. Annie is Marin's daughter, who was raised in the insulated, upper-class community. Tragedy impacts Annie and Marin, which sends Annie running from Haven Point the rest of her life. Annie's daughter, Sky, has been raised on Annie's negative stories about Haven Point, but after a tragedy of her own is thrust into her grandmother's home to face her own biases about it.

Haven Point was a sweet story. It was relatable in ways yet also appealing as it was a peak into the WASP-y world of an island beach community most of us will never experience on our own outside of a novel. Marin was a great character, a perfect representation of her generation. Annie, also was a character I thought well represented her generation...the Vietnam generation. I liked to see how the story of Marin and Annie was really peeled away at by using Sky as the catalyst, necessitating this unfolding of her mother and grandmother's history.

Haven Point is the type of novel I think all ages of women will enjoy as a summer read that is not too heavy nor too light. I would recommend it.

I loved this book so much. Everything about it. The characters were fully fledged and the family dynamics between them felt honest. I love a good family drama and this delivered in spades. The audiobook was well done and the narrator definitely added to the story. I didn’t want this to end.

When you think about the perfect summer read, Haven Point should come to mind. The setting on the beautiful coast of Maine and the richly detailed characters make this debut novel a pleasure from beginning to end.

This is a multi-generational family novel with multiple timelines beginning in WWII and coming to present-day. A story of love, family secrets, tragedy, rivalry, and much more. It centers on Maren, Annie, and Skye as each in their own way and in their own generation navigate the snobbish, clannish, and secretive residents of Haven Point. The author weaves the storylines to provide understanding of the history of what brings use to the present day story.

It’s easy to be swept into the emotion of the story and to care deeply for both Skye and Maren. Both the story and the emotions are complex. It is a satisfying journey for the reader. I can’t remember enjoying a multi-generational family saga this much since The Thornbirds was published in the 1970’s.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Cassandra Campbell and found her reading of the story excellent. Thank you to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced listener’s copy of the audiobook in exchange for my review.

I loved the multigenerational perspective. Haven Point seemed perfect at first, but unraveled. Very fun.

3.5 - A multigenerational story of three women living and surviving in the close-knit, old family community of Haven Point, Maine. This story spans from WWII to the present featuring Marin, her daughter Annie and Annie’s daughter Skye. For all of Skye’s life her mother has battled with addiction, leaving Skye to grow up fast and often resulting in her being sent to live with her grandmother at the house in Haven Point. Over the course of the story we finally come to learn the trauma behind Annie’s great depression and unhappiness. This is an epic family saga, full of old money, prejudices, strong women and tragedy. Recommended for fans of complicated dysfunctional family stories with memorable characters. I struggled to connect with this one a bit and I think if I didn’t have an audio copy it would have been a hard one to finish. Mostly just a case of not the book for me than anything against the book itself though. Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my advance listening copy.

⚠️CW: death of a child/sibling; death of a parent; drug/alcohol addiction, drug overdose

Haven Point, set along the rocky coastline of Maine, is a family saga spanning more than seventy years. It begins during WWII and continues through modern times following three Demarest women. I really enjoyed listening to this novel and loved the beautiful yet heart wrenching narratives of the women.  While I was listening to this story, I found myself thinking of Commonwealth written by Ann Patchett. Cassandra Campbell's narration was lovely.  
Thank you @netgalley and @macmillanaudio for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

I really wanted to love this book because the plot is something I would typically enjoy. However, there are parts of this book I found unnecessarily long. I found myself just wanting to move forward but parts just kept me as the listener at a standstill.

Skye is on her way back to Haven Point, a beach community in Maine where her mother and her family spent summers growing up. Haven Point is deeply divided into the haves and the have nots and is further divided by family secrets. The family secrets begin to come out following the death of Skye's mother. A good read and well written. I enjoyed the back and forth timelines to tell everyone's story. A good family drama right up my alley.

I would like to thank the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free e-audio copy of this book in exchange for my review.

I really enjoyed this book. I felt that the character development was comfortable and well done. this book is told in different POV's and time lines, and that was a bit confusing for a while, and I often wished I could continue one story before switching to a different POV & time frame, but overall, I thought the book was enjoyable and engaging.

I'm rating this one 3.5, rounding up to 4 stars. I will watch for more work by this author.

All the cottage feels at Haven Point, from the quaint coastal Maine imagery when I listened to this audiobook. I did struggle with keeping track of multiple characters and time periods from frequent flash backs and flash forwards. The story line of family legacy, conflict and love keep you engaged and made me long for a visit tot the shore and cottage life. I just felt a little disappointed with keeping up.

I did appreciate this book overall and would recommend it.

Thank you to MacMillan audio, Author Virgins Hume and #NetGalley

Out today - Haven Point by Virginia Hume

I listened to the audiobook read by Cassandra Campbell and enjoyed it a lot !

A family saga about three generations of Demerest women set mostly at their summer home in the seaside community of Haven Point, Maine.
It is also a story of the elitist society of Haven Point where a line of rocks provides a visible and invisible line of a social class.
Spanning World War II, through the upheaval of the Vietnam War till 2008, we learn of matriarch Maren’s learned love for the tight knit community she married into, her daughter Anne who found it suffocating and snobbish and of her granddaughter Skye’s struggle to understand it all. The story unfolds in differing timelines. It is a wonderful novel of joy and tragedy, heartache, betrayal and addiction. But most of all it is a story of family love, lasting friendships and a struggle to belong - great for lovers of historical fiction and family sagas or anyone who enjoys a good redemption story.
I received the ALC to this audio book from Netgalley and Macmillan Audio/St. Martin’s Press. The review is my honest opinion.

Haven Point is set in Maine and tells the story of 3 generations of the Larsen family. The book alternates storylines between 3 different women and lets us see just how their stories unwind into their current situations. The narrator usually makes or breaks an audiobook and I’m happy to report that this book has an excellent narrator. She has a calm voice and can do different voices without sounding annoying. I found myself looking forward to my listening time with this book. Read and enjoy!

Maren and Oliver meet during the war. Oliver is high society and Maren is a good ole country girl. But, these two fall in love and have a family. But, there are secrets and deceptions.

Maren struggles to be who her husband needs. Annie, their daughter, struggles to be what her father expects her to be. And Skye struggles to find out what went wrong with her mother’s past. Talk about a family saga with different timelines…however, the author did a great job with the different eras and characters.

There are a few places the story slowed down and just did not move very fast. But, there was something about the characters that kept me listening. Plus the secrets…when they start to unfold…well, you will just have to read it to find out!

The narrator, Cassandra Campbell, is wonderful. She handles all the voices and drama very well! I feel like if I had read this book, I would not have liked it as well. But, because I listened to it and the narrator did such a great job, it made the book more interesting.

Need a good family saga with a great setting…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Haven Point by Virginia Hume is a delightful summer read that covers multiple decades and three generations of women in the Demarest family. Maren, Annie, and Skye - three women connected by their blood, as well as their complicated relationships with the community of Haven Point.

What I loved about this book was how the community of Haven Point functioned as much as a character as any individual. It's about who is accepted and who isn't and what the cost of that acceptance is.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, narrator, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.