Contemporary Fiction Humor (see: just right for a newly retired late 50 something :-)

Would you love to read a book this summer that overturns the typical beach read tropes? Save What’s Left by Elizabeth Castellano and narrated by Thérèse Plummer is such a fun one. The novel gives us Kathleen who is in a pickle. Her husband of thirty years has just announced that he feels their marriage is not working. He is leaving on a trip. What should she do? After a delightful walk through her Christmas letters (one of the many times I laughed aloud) she determines to sell her Kansas house and buy a beach house in Whitbey - sight unseen. Kathleen does not achieve the relaxing beach life she is hoping for. Instead, she finds herself best friends with the crotchety lady next door and constantly battling local government - filing grievances again and again for building and beach violations that are largely ignored. She is frustrated and angry much of the time. Eventually her husband returns to live in his Airstream in her driveway. What’s a fifty something not quite divorced woman to do?

Plummer has just created this woman that I didn’t know whether to love or hate - and many who know her in the book feel the same. She is angry - but I can’t help but admire her ability to stand up for herself. She is witty - and errs on the side of sarcasm whenever she can. She has little tolerance for stupidity and yet tolerates so much of it. I just feel like in so many ways she represents the late 50 something woman quite well. We find our voices and are learning how to use them the most effectively. Plummer just barely keeps me liking and kind of admiring her - most definitely rooting for her. The whole beach neighborhood is just a hoot, really. She feels she has no friends here, and yet she builds quite a crew. In YA land Sarah Dessen often gives us a look into the people who live at the beach and have to put up with all of the vacationers. We see that perspective here. Oh how frustrating it is for the locals to have their ordinances ignored. Everyone is building bigger and more elaborately. It falls to folks like Kathleen and her nosy neighbor to try and stop the tide.

Oh man. I just recently reviewed The Memory of Lavender and Sage where I lamented my lack of appetite for change and adventure. I can’t decide if Save What’s Left by Elizabeth Castellano has confirmed my fears or made a mockery of them. She announces fairly quickly that she has made a huge mistake in the purchase of Oyster House and subsequent move, but yet, she forges ahead. Her husband returns, and she isn’t sure she wants him to, but yet, she works to figure it out. No one really responds to her myriad of concerns, but yet, she keeps lodging them. Again, I don’t know if I should aspire to be more like her or guard against it with a fury. I enjoyed the beach read turned on itself and found something to be thoughtful about as well.