Book Review: The Girls Of August

Author: Anne Rivers Siddons
Title: The Girls Of August
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publish Date: July 8, 2014
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley
Book Blurb: 

Every August, four women would gather together to spend a week at the beach, renting a new house each year. The ritual began when they were in their twenties and their husbands were in medical school, and became a mainstay of every summer thereafter. Their only criteria was oceanfront and isolation, their only desire to strengthen their far-flung friendships. They called themselves the Girls of August. But when one of the Girls dies tragically, the group slowly drifts apart and their vacations together are brought to a halt. Years later, a new marriage reunites them and they decide to come together once again on a remote barrier island off the South Carolina coast. There, far from civilization, the women make startling discoveries that will change them in ways they never expected.

Review: Have you ever read a book that you know you've not read before, but when you finish it, it felt like you had, because the plot was so similar to about a dozen other books that you've read?

That sums up The Girls Of August in a nutshell.

If you've read one book about women who rent houses on the beach each summer, you might have read them all.

Considering how great a writer Anne Rivers Siddons is, this book is quite a let down.

You have 3 original wives of doctors (ho hum, I'm supposed to feel sorry for wealthy doctor's wives..nope, no can do). The fourth wife, is a twentysomething bombshell.

Can you see where this story is going?

Yes, the other wives resent her, hate her, whatever. Yes, their lives are changing/ending, but somehow, this young thing helps alter there summer.

I wanted to feel sad for Rachel and Barbara, but other than their nasty behavior, I didn't feel like I got to know them well enough to have any emotional attachment. Maddie is the likable peacemaker of the bunch. She's the only one willing to give "Baby" a chance.

The story is short and fast paced, with a few flashbacks of Maddie's life. It definitely fits into the beach read category. Its light and fluffy, but unfortunately not very satisfying.

Rating: 2 flowers