Coast Road
A Novel
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4.4 • 250 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Hailed as “a heartwarming story” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis), a celebration of what matters most in life, Barbara Delinsky’s profoundly moving New York Times bestseller is as richly textured and captivating as the Northern California landscape in which it is set.
Jack McGill chose his architectural career over his family, and returned home from yet another business trip to find that his wife, Rachel, had left him. Now, six years later, a car accident has left Rachel clinging to life, and she and their two daughters desperately need him. Putting work on hold for the first time in his life, Jack decides to sit by his ex-wife's bedside. As he meets Rachel's many new friends, and tries to cope with two teenage daughters and their problems, he learns more about a woman he never really knew, her expressive art, and the secret that made her leave. Much to his astonishment, Jack begins to see Rachel, his daughters, and the story of his marriage with new eyes.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in Big Sur, Calif., Delinsky's latest contemporary romance (after Three Wishes) sings the praises of family and friendship. Rachel Keats, outdoorsy artist, mother of two and ex-wife of architect Jack McGill, is in a coma after a car crash on her way to a book-club meeting. When Jack hears the news in a late-night phone call from Rachel's best friend, flinty Katherine Evans, he puts aside pressing business obligations in San Francisco and rushes to her side. Rachel shows no sign of waking up soon, so Jack moves into her house to take care of their daughters, 15-year-old Samantha and 13-year-old Hope. Meanwhile, Jack keeps slipping into flashback memories of his life with Rachel but can't seem to figure out why she left him six years earlier. Luckily, Katherine is there to give him the answers: Jack is selfish, uncommunicative and materialistic. As Jack gets to know Rachel's life, her friends and the family she has made, he realizes Katherine is right and resolves to show Rachel he's changed--if only she'll wake up. Sexual stereotypes fuel this predictable saga, and the wait for Rachel's recovery can't sustain tension in the plot. Samantha's wild teenaged antics and the early, prickly stages of a romance between Katherine and Rachel's neurologist lend the only doses of excitement to a story that's stretched far too thin.
Customer Reviews
Torn about rating
Had trouble getting into this book because the beginning was full of so many different things happening at the same time. But I stuck with it & in the end enjoyed it. Somethings were left hanging or didn’t feel resolved (relationships with mothers) I love this author & I have to be careful because many of her books have been reissued with new covers so read the sample before purchasing.
OK
I loved this book. Ms Delinsky is a very sensitive writer—very special. There’s lots of good writers around with good stories to tell, but her books are more. My vocabulary is failing me, but you should get the idea.