On Fire Island
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
"Dazzling...as funny as it is poignant, nostalgic as it is sharp." —Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After
A book editor spends one last summer on Fire Island in this sparkling and surprising new novel from the author of A Shoe Story.
As a book editor, Julia Morse lived and breathed stories. Whether with her pen to a manuscript or curled up with a book while at her beloved Fire Island cottage, her imagination alight with a good tale, she could anticipate practically any ending. The ending she’d never imagined was her own.
To be fair, no one expects to die at thirty-seven. So when the unthinkable happens to Julia, rather than following the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, she chooses to spend one last summer near those she loves most.
As she follows her adoring, novelist husband Ben to their—unexpectedly full—home on Fire Island, she discovers the ripple affect her life has had on the trajectory of so many: her baseball loving, young-at-heart neighbor who believes it’s best not to go it alone, two bright-eyed teenagers eager to become adults, and her best friend who must shake off heartbreak for a new chance at love.
With poignant comedy and insight, On Fire Island is an ode to the stories all around us and to the brightest types of loves…for the people closest to you and the places that shape you.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Rosen's poignant and humorous latest (after A Shoe Story), the ghost of a recently deceased woman observes her loved ones as they try to move on. Editor Julia and writer Ben Morse had an idyllic marriage before Julia died from cancer. Ben, devastated, ditches the shiva service at their New York City apartment for a trip to Fire Island, where he and Julia shared many happy moments. Julia follows him and witnesses their friends react to her absence and continue their lives without her. As well, Ben finds companionship and a foil in Shep, who owned the Morses' house for many years with her late wife and can't seem to stay away. Meanwhile, Julia's best friend Renee, whose dull husband recently ditched her for his assistant, finds comfort and affection in Gabe, a drummer 20 years her junior ("a plumber!" her teen son Matty exclaims when they meet, pretending he didn't hear correctly). Rosen has a winning sense of humor, bringing levity not to awkward and painful moments, and she packs the narrative with vivid details of beach life and city life. This is a treat.
