Beach Trip

March 23, 2009
Break out the tissues, sunblock and margarita mix as four old friends reunite after 23 years for a beach party in Holton’s feast of Southern friendship (after The Secret Lives of the Kudzu Debutantes
). Mel, Sara, Annie and Lola head out to Wild Dunes, a beachfront palace owned by Lola’s super-rich husband on exclusive Whale Head Island in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Spacy Lola is miserably married and leans heavily on medication to deal with her husband’s manipulations. Obsessive-compulsive Annie still broods over a college fling with a married professor even though she’s got a great husband. Social worker Sara still envies glamorous Mel, a witty crime novelist (I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead
is her latest) living in New York who’s unlucky in marriage. At 45, each stands at a familiar crossroads covered by many novels of the midlife-empowerment genre, but Holton refreshes the action with winning humor, especially with Mel, whose take-no-prisoners attitude inspires everyone to embrace their present and let the past go.

May 1, 2009
More than 20 years after their college graduation, former roommates Lola, Mel, Annie, and Sarahave gathered at Lolas beach home for a reunion that uncovers the secrets and struggles that have shaped their lives. Lola is married to her controlling college boyfriend, Briggs, who kept her from her true love. Mel has a successful writing career and a trail of failed relationships. Annie has a perfect life married to her high-school sweetheart, but sheis haunted by a long-ago transgression. Sara, Mels best friend from childhood, must come to grips with the choice that irrevocably changed their friendship. Holton, the author of Revenge of the Kudzu Debutantes (2006), returns to the themes of female friendship and southern traditions. The novels wistful tone and serious revelations will set it apart from summers lighter fare, while the characters witty barbs and beachy setting keep it entertaining.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)