The Beach Sisters

A young woman travels the globe to retrace the final months of her sister’s life in search of answers about her death in this dark, gripping debut novel of family, secrets, and loss. Katie’s world is shattered by the news that her headstrong and bohemian younger sister, Mia, has been found dead at the bottom of a cliff in Bali. The authorities say that Mia jumped—that her death was a suicide. Although they’d hardly spoken to each other since Mia suddenly left on an around-the-world trip six months earlier, Katie refuses to accept that her sister would have taken her own life. Distraught that they never made peace, Katie leaves her orderly, sheltered life in London behind and embarks on a journey to find out the truth. With only the entries of Mia’s travel journal as her guide, Katie retraces the last few months of her sister’s life, and—page by page, country by country—begins to uncover the mystery surrounding her death. . . . Weaving together the exotic settings and suspenseful twists of Alex Garland’s The Beach with a powerful tale of familial love in the spirit of Rosamund Lupton’s Sister, Swimming at Night is a fast-paced, accomplished, and gripping debut novel of secrets, loss, and forgiveness.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY • “Summer Sisters is a book to return to again and again.”—Colleen Hoover “As warm as a summer breeze blowing through your hair, as nostalgic as James Taylor singing ‘How Sweet It Is.’ You remember. So does Judy Blume. How sweet it was.”—Chicago Tribune In the summer of 1977, Victoria Leonard’s world changes forever when Caitlin Somers chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, reckless Caitlin welcomes Vix into the heart of her sprawling, eccentric family, opening doors to a world of unimaginable privilege, sweeping her away to vacations on Martha’s Vineyard, an enchanting place where the two friends become “summer sisters.” Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City. Caitlin is getting married on the Vineyard. And the early magic of their long, complicated friendship has faded. But Caitlin begs Vix to come to her wedding, to be her maid of honor. And Vix knows that she will go—because she wants to understand what happened during that last shattering summer. And, after all these years, she needs to know why her best friend—her summer sister—still has the power to break her heart.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR “[A] skillfully crafted gothic mystery . . . Johnson pulls off a great feat in this book.” —Financial Times “It reminded me, in its general refusal to play nice, of early Ian McEwan.” —The New York Times Book Review “Johnson crafts an aching thriller about the dangers of loving too intensely.” —Time From a Booker Prize finalist and international literary star: a blazing portrait of one darkly riveting sibling relationship, from the inside out. “One of her generation’s most intriguing authors” (Entertainment Weekly), Daisy Johnson is the youngest writer to have been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Now she returns with Sisters, a haunting story about two sisters caught in a powerful emotional web and wrestling to understand where one ends and the other begins. Born just ten months apart, July and September are thick as thieves, never needing anyone but each other. Now, following a case of school bullying, the teens have moved away with their single mother to a long-abandoned family home near the shore. In their new, isolated life, July finds that the deep bond she has always shared with September is shifting in ways she cannot entirely understand. A creeping sense of dread and unease descends inside the house. Meanwhile, outside, the sisters push boundaries of behavior—until a series of shocking encounters tests the limits of their shared experience, and forces shocking revelations about the girls’ past and future. Written with radically inventive language and imagery by an author whose work has been described as “entrancing” (The New Yorker), “a force of nature” (The New York Times Book Review), and “weird and wild and wonderfully unsettling” (Celeste Ng), Sisters is a one-two punch of wild fury and heartache—a taut, powerful, and deeply moving account of sibling love and what happens when two sisters must face each other’s darkest impulses.

Some guests have come for a holiday, others for hidden reasons of their own . . . When their father's death leaves them impoverished, Sarah Summers and her genteel sisters fear they will be forced to sell the house and separate to earn livelihoods as governesses or companions. Determined to stay together, Sarah convinces them to open their seaside home to guests to make ends meet and provide for their ailing mother. Instead of the elderly invalids they expect to receive, however, they find themselves hosting eligible gentlemen. Sarah is soon torn between a growing attraction to a mysterious Scottish widower and duty to her family. Viola Summers wears a veil to cover her scar. When forced to choose between helping in her family's new guest house and earning money to hire a maid to do her share, she chooses the latter. She reluctantly agrees to read to some of Sidmouth's many invalids, preferring the company of a few elders with failing eyesight to the fashionable guests staying in their home. But when her first client turns out to be a wounded officer in his thirties, Viola soon wishes she had chosen differently. Her new situation exposes her scars--both visible and those hidden deep within--and her cloistered heart will never be the same. Join the Summers sisters on the Devonshire coast, where they discover the power of friendship, loyalty, love, and new beginnings.

A little girl misses having anyone to play with on the beach -- until she realises she can create a companion of her own. But what will she do when her sand sister must return to the sea? This touching story is all about the power of the imagination. AGES: 3-7 AUTHOR: Amanda White was born and brought up in London but now lives with her family in Cornwall, having been lured there by the beautiful landscape and thriving arts scene. An only child herself, she easily identifies with the main character in 'Sand Sister'. Amanda is married to an architect and has three children. ILLUSTRATOR: Yuyi Morales is an award-winning artist, author, puppet maker and former host of a Spanish-language storytelling show. A native of Mexico, Yuyi now lives in California. She says of her work, "What I am trying to do through my books is mostly to surround myself with the things I love, the stories that bring me closer to my homeland, the tales and customs I want my son to know." SELLING POINTS: * Illustrated by Mexican artist Yuyi Morales: Yuyi has worked in acrylics to create an intimate story about the friendship between a child and her imagined playmate * A story of loneliness: Paloma, the main character of this story, is an only child. However, her adventure and her attitude to play will speak to the imaginations of children everywhere * Seaside setting: Wonderful beach and seascapes make this an adventure for the senses in which you can almost feel the hot sun, wet sand and taste the salty waves

“Absolutely gorgeous… I was totally swept away… left me with both tears in my eyes, and a smile on my face. A beautiful read from beginning to end.” Sibzzreads ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Two sisters who haven’t spoken for twenty years. One summer to bring a family back together. Jayne Winters hasn’t seen her sister Charlotte since that last childhood holiday at their grandmother’s North Carolina beach house. Separated after that summer by their parents in a bitter divorce, Charlotte has never forgiven Jayne for not fighting to stay together. So when Jayne discovers that they have both inherited the beach house, and that their grandmother’s last wish was for them to renovate it together, it feels like a miracle: one last chance to win her sister back. At first Charlotte will barely speak to her. But slowly the memories of swimming races and storytelling in their attic bedroom looking over the sea start to break down the wall between them. With the help of photographs and letters left by their grandmother for them to find, the two women begin to restore not just the creaking mahogany staircase and the faded antique wallpaper, but their own relationship. But then Jayne discovers that Charlotte has kept a heart-stopping secret from their past from her. Can she find it in her heart to forgive her sister and keep their grandmother’s dream of reuniting them alive—or are some wounds too big to heal? An emotional and uplifting read about sisters, secrets and the family bonds that hold us together no matter how complicated they are, from the bestselling author of The Lighthouse Keeper. Fans of Mary Ellen Taylor, Elin Hilderbrand and Mary Alice Monroe will love this. Readers love Cynthia Ellingsen: “Phenomenal! Immediately pulled me into the story and I couldn’t set the book down until I’d finished… This will be one of those books that I reach for time and again.” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars “Utterly impossible for me to put down. A gorgeous story… devoured the entire book in just one sitting… I wish I could give it five hundred stars. All I can say is WOW—read it. You won't be disappointed.” NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars “Will tug at readers’ heartstrings and make them laugh and cry… a stirring tale of love, loss and loyalty that manages to be life-affirming, heart-breaking and uplifting at the same time.” Bookish Jottings “I was immediately sucked in and became invested with the family drama… Loved it!… captures your heart within minutes! I can't wait to share this with my friends and family.” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars “Kept me turning the pages… I couldn’t put it down and finished it in a day!… Feels like a warm hug.” Goodreads reviewer “Such a beautiful and emotional story… Completely captured my heart and my sense of adventure.” Berit Talks Books “Hooked from the first page… I found myself wanting to read faster and know what happens next.” The Writer’s Workout “The characters were so easy to relate to and the setting was beautiful… Helped take me away like a book should… One of the best books I've read so far in 2021.” Book Dreamer

From the #1 New York Times author of Before We Were Yours! Elizabeth Gallagher has been balancing on the ragged edge for a while now. Then a rough case on the boards of her 911 operator’s job collides with a family conflict at home, and Elizabeth finds herself finally coming apart at the seams. A four-state road trip—trapped in a car with her mother—is the last thing she needs. Their destination may be beautiful Hatteras Island, but the reason for going is anything by pleasant. After one disastrous hurricane, and with a second one working its way up the coast, it’s time to convince Aunt Sandy to abandon her little seaside store on North Carolina’s Outer Banks and return to the family fold in Michigan. But when the storm sweeps through, the three women will discover that sisterhood and the sea can change hearts, lives, and futures . . . often in the most unpredictable of ways.