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Dune Road

Name: Dune Road
Author: Jane Green
ISBN: 9780452296251

by Jane Green

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Overview

The instant New York Times bestseller from one of the most beloved voices in women's fiction

An ever-growing legion of fans greets the publication of each new tale from the inimitable Jane Green. Her latest gem, Dune Road, is set in tony Highfield, Connecticut, where recent divorcee Kit Hargrove has joyfully exchanged the requisite diamond studs and Persian rugs of a Wall Street Widow for a clapboard Cape with sea-green shutters and sprawling impatiens. Her kids are content, her ex cooperative, and each morning she wakes up to her dream job: assisting the blockbuster novelist Robert McClore. Then an unexpected series of events forces Kit to realize that her blissfully constructed idyll and blossoming new romance aren't as perfect as she thought. A warm, witty, and gloriously observed meditation on the challenges of starting over, Dune Road is Jane Green at her absolute best.

Synopsis

A sparkling new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Beach House

Jane Green's last novel, The Beach House, was an instant New York Times bestseller and captured her largest audience yet. From the sunny green lawns of Connecticut to the cafés of London to the sandy beaches of Nantucket, Green draws from her own life to craft each delicious story and the resulting tales resonate with women everywhere.

Dune Road is another fun and fearless adventure that will take Green's many fans from laughter to tears and back again. The novel is set in the beach community of a tony Connecticut town. Our heroine is a single mom who works for a famous-and famously reclusive-novelist. When she stumbles on a secret that the great man has kept hidden for years, she knows that there are plenty of women in town who would love to get their hands on it-including some who fancy the writer for themselves. Dune Road is the story of life in an exclusive beach town after the tourists have left for the summer and the eccentric (and moneyed) community sticks around. Dune Road will surely be the book to pack in beach bags next summer.

Publishers Weekly

In the latest inviting summer read from bestseller Green (The Beach House), divorced mom Kit Hargrove learns about family, love, and the price of secrets while rediscovering passion for life and her small Connecticut beach town. As the off-season begins, Kit is still recovering from the breakup of her marriage (to solicitous but work-obsessed Adam), working for famously reclusive author Robert McClore, and practicing yoga with her new friend Tracy. Upheaval soon arrives in the form of a mysterious new boyfriend and a long-lost sister, as well as a scandalous secret regarding Kit's much-desired employer. Green's newest has all the right elements for a sun-baked afternoon of reading: sandy locales, hints of sex and scandal, and lots of strong female characters. With three main plots, however, Green tries to pack in too much story, ultimately shortchanging her characters and her readers.
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About the Author, Jane Green

Part of the "British invasion" of the brand of women's fiction affectionately known as "chick lit," Jane Green's cheeky heroines join the sisterhood whose members include Bridget Jones and Sophie Kinsella's "Shopaholic."

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

New York Times best-selling author Green's (www.janegreen.com) 11th novel, following The Beach House (2008), also available from Recorded Books and Penguin Audio, tells of a Connecticut divorcee's evolution from a married socialite to a free woman unbound by social constrictions. A lengthy exploration of her divorce and feelings finally yields an engaging story of strong women who prevail on their own terms. Actress Cassandra Campbell (The Beach House) reveals the characters' inner thoughts and relays their conversations in a soft-spoken voice and mellow manner appropriate to this free-flowing narrative. Good as light vacation listening or for those anticipating a long car ride. [The Viking hc was described as a "quick, easy beach read," LJ 6/15/09.—Ed.]—Beth Traylor, Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libs.

Kirkus Reviews

British author Green (The Beach House, 2008, etc.) has moved from England to Connecticut, and her novel's heroines have fallen suit. Exit the chippy London career girl looking for love and a sample sale, enter the New England mother questioning whether there is a bit more to life than the requisite diamond-stud earrings and showcase country house. This is what Kit wondered before she divorced Adam, but now two years later, she is finally fulfilled. The mansion, and the prestige of being married to one of Wall Street's players, is gone. Still, in Highfield (think Greenwich), the mansion has been replaced with a charming house a few blocks from Main Street, and she now has an eccentric and perfectly indispensable new neighbor in octogenarian Edie. Best yet, she has a great job as personal assistant to Robert McClore (think Tom Clancy). The kids have adjusted, her friends Charlie and Tracy are lovely. In fact, everything is terrific. Until it isn't. There are clouds on the horizon: America's financial crisis is about to hit this community hard; Tracy begins to woo Robert (his first wife, a wild-child model, died in a boating accident-or was it?- in the swinging '70s); and Annabel, a British half-sister Kit has just found out about, shows up. Green's novel begins lightly and then shifts gears, producing a kind of thriller-lite effect. A few key players have some nasty intentions, and Kit has to sort it all out. Meanwhile, she is trying to decide if her new romantic interest (the dishy Steve, who is literally too good to be true) can compare with Adam, whom she is beginning to think she still loves. Green has some good fun with the shallow lifestyles of the ladies who lunch, and by the endthe greedy are punished and the good (that would be Kit) prevail. The competing styles-chatty friendships, shopping, middle-aged enlightenment and crime/suspense-make for a disjointed read.