The Sandpiper Book Review

Synopsis:

One family's story of pain, secrets, and love.

The Sandpiper is about three Cameron women. Kate the perfect older sister. Jamie the screw-up. Their widowed mother Ellie. It's about Nina Judd, their guardian angel, the novel's heartbeat.

Kate had the chance to know their father Dr. James. Jamie was born too late. Sisters by birth. Sisters in loyalty sanctified by a blood oath. Two bright, pretty women full of promise. Then something happens the summer Jamie turns 18 that ruins everything.

And maybe Kate is not so perfect after all. Jamie, not so hopeless. Embraced by The Sandpiper, Nina's white-shingled cottage above the endless blue of Lake Michigan, the sisters struggle toward forgiveness, toward healing.

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

My Review: 

I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This is a beautiful and enriching story of love, friendship, loss, forgiveness and redemption. Ellie and James Cameron were the perfect couple until the Vietnam War took James and left Ellie the single mother of two young girls. The only friend she had was Nina Judd, the woman whose cabin James had rented for them while he was away. Jamie and Kate Cameron were polar opposites. Kate was three years older than her sister. Not only did she help to raise her, but Kate was the perfect child, while Jamie struggled through life, leaving her older sister to pick up the pieces, cover for her and made everything okay again. The one anchor they have is dying of cancer, and they all reunite at The Sandpiper to be reminded of what is really important.

Susan. Brace Lovell has written a wonderful book. The characters are so realistic and a connection is immediately felt with them. Each scene felt like I was right there on the patio sipping hot chocolate and chatting along with them. I think the most important thing I learned about myself as I read Jamie's plight, is that in order to really move on, I need to forgive myself before I can completely accept others forgiveness. This novel certainly feels more like a family friend, one that I will revisit time and time again.

About the Author

Susan Lovell earned undergraduate and graduate degrees with honors in English from the University of Michigan and taught high school and college English. She co-founded Cadence, a weekly newspaper in East Grand Rapids, Michigan and is the author of four non-fiction histories. Lovell currently sits on the Grand Rapids Salvation Army’s Advisory Board. She and her husband live in Grand Rapids.