Thursday, May 2, 2013

Moon Over Edisto by Beth Webb Hart




About the Book:

Edisto Island was where it all came apart. Can the Bennett girls ever be whole again?

Once, they were the happiest family under the sun, crabbing and fishing and painting on beautiful Edisto Island in South Carolina’s lowcountry.

Then everything went wrong, and twenty years later the Bennett family is still in pieces. Mary Ellen still struggles to understand why her picture-perfect marriage came apart. Daughter Meg keeps a death grip on her own family, controlling her relationships at a distance. And eldest daughter, Julia, left it all behind years ago, forging a whole new life as an artist and academic in Manhattan. She’s engaged to an art dealer and has no intentions of returning to Edisto.

Ever.

Then an emergency forces Julia back to Edisto to care for her three young half-siblings. She grudgingly agrees to stay a week. But there’s something about Edisto that changes people. Can Julia and her fractured family somehow manage to come together again under that low-hanging Edisto moon?

My Thoughts:

If you're looking for a quick read, then you may want to wait on this book by Beth Webb Hart.  But, if you're looking for something to slowly soak into your soul and satisfy you like a glass of sweet tea on a hot, summer day, then this is the book for you.

Beth Webb Hart has become my 'go to gal' for those lazy Southern novels that make me want to relocate to somewhere with 'ana' in the name and fried chicken on the plate.  Her new novel, "Moon Over Edisto" continues that tradition as well as teaches a lot about forgiveness and grace.

I'm with Julia: I want nothing to do with Marney after how she betrayed Julia's family and her best friend's trust.  I don't know that I could have made the sacrifice Julia makes in returning to the location of her happiest and most painful memories to help Marney out.

But after meeting Heath, Etta and Charlie, I know she made the right call.  And then there's Jed---what a guy!  And Skeeter and Aunt Dot and Mary Ellen...all loveable characters that stay in your imagination long after the book concludes.

Meg is a work in progress, and while I don't blame her for her bitterness, I do think she needs to lighten up a bit before she squeezes the life out of her children.  I see a little of myself in Meg, and it has nudged me to make some changes in my own life.

Because that's what good story does.

My only quibble with the story is a couple of loose threads and one unbelievable aspect.  The biggest loose thread is Etta's disability...a question of why remained with me, and I want resolution.  The conclusion had Meg so radically different I just didn't buy it completely.

But, that said, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to you.  I purchased my own copy: I've been a fan of Beth's for a long time.  "Moon Over Edisto" is a perfect summer novel, and I recommend you read it while drinking some good sweet tea.

Happy Reading!

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