Enchanted August
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
'Brenda Bowen's Enchanted August is a perfect summer read – for any time of the year'
Everyone needs a place like Hopewell Cottage – a romantic holiday rental on a small, sunny island.
For Rose and Lottie, it’s a refuge from the frenzy of the school gates.
For Beverly, it’s a chance to say goodbye to two lost loves.
And for disgraced movie star Caroline, it offers the anonymity she craves.
But on tiny Little Lost Island, with its cocktail parties, tennis matches and Ladies’ Association for Beautification, will they really find the answers to their very modern problems?
‘Delightful... I'm dreaming of blueberries and Maine lobster. We all need a sunny island or castle to which we can run away’ Helen Simonson, author of MAJOR PETTIGREW’S LAST STAND
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Children's book publisher turned literary agent Bowen bases her smartly crafted beach read debut on the bestselling 1922 novel Enchanted April. The result is an updated vacation and travel treat that's a paean to coastal Maine and island living, and a treatise on loving the one you're with. At the castle-like Hopewell Cottage on aptly named Little Lost Island, Maine, a month-long rental is shared by disaffected Brooklyn friends Lottie and Rose; surly Beverly, whose lover left him filthy rich but inconsolably lonely; and indie film ing nue Caroline, who wants to escape the memory of an Oscar night embarrassment. Robert, the lute-playing owner of the cottage, chooses the disparate foursome with a listing guided by his own "Rule of Robert's Sign" that "those who most needed it would see it" yet secretly hopes the rental will finally lead him to someone with whom he can share both his home and life. The stew of characters is delicious from the start, with Caroline and Beverly finding comfort in one another, Lottie rediscovering her family when lawyer husband Jon and preschooler Ethan reluctantly join her, Rose and writer husband Fred finding that love and family are worth fighting for, and Robert finally getting to tear up the rules. Bowen crafts an old-fashioned love story with humor and heart as well as a lush setting, quirky characters, and a well-paced narrative.
