“So why are you here? I would think you’d want to be as far away from a hurricane zone as possible.”
She looked at me as if I’d just suggested streaking down the beach. It took her a moment to answer. “Because this is home.” She waited to see if the words registered with me, but I just looked back at her, not understanding at all.
After a deep breath, she looked up at a tall oak tree beyond the garden, its leaves still green against the early October sky, the limbs now thick with foliage. “Because the water recedes, and the sun comes out, and the trees grow back. Because” — she spread her hands, indicated the garden and the tree and, I imagined, the entire peninsula of Biloxi — “because we’ve learned that great tragedy gives us opportunities for great kindness. It’s like a needed reminder that the human spirit is alive and well despite all evidence to the contrary.” She lowered her hands to her sides. “I figured I wasn’t dead, so I must not be done.”
(from The Beach Trees, page 123)
I always know I’m in for a treat when I read Karen White’s novels, but The Beach Trees blew me away and really shows how much she has grown as a writer. From the moment I began The Beach Trees until I turned the last page, I was engrossed in the characters and the setting and had a hard time pulling myself out of the story to get back to the real world. White once again has created a place I’d love to live and characters I’d love to know in real life.
Julie Holt has been floating through life, never really living it, since her younger sister disappeared when Julie was 12. She was supposed to be watching Chelsea, so she carries some guilt and has devoted 17 years of her life to trying to find her sister. When her mother died, Julie continued the search alone, her father and brother long ago pulling back from the family unit. Working at an auction house in New York, Julie found a true friend in Monica Guidry, and when a heart condition leaves Monica dead at the age of 28, Julie finds herself the guardian of Monica’s five-year-old son, Beau, and the owner of a beachfront property in Biloxi, Mississippi. Julie has nowhere to go but Biloxi, where she finds out that the family Monica left behind 10 years ago — her grandmother, Aimee, and her brother, Trey — are living close by in New Orleans. It’s hard not to see the similarities between Julie and Trey, both of whom lost beloved sisters and never stopped looking for them.
If the story wasn’t interesting enough, with Trey and Julie reluctantly working together to rebuild the beach house that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and Julie trying to figure out what to do about Beau and her inability to move beyond her childhood, White manages to flawlessly insert a mystery that had me on the edge of my seat. Monica left Julie a painting of her great-grandmother that was painted by Julie’s great-grandfather, and Julie pursues the connection between her family and the Guidrys. Why did Monica leave home in the first place? How and why did the woman in the portrait disappear? In a leisurely Southern style, Aimee tells Julie how she met the Guidry family in the 1950s, was torn between two brothers, and intrigued by their mother, who refused to conform to society’s expectations.
The narrative shifts back and forth from Julie’s plight in the present and Aimee’s coming-of-age in the 1950s. The transitions are seamless, the plot is well crafted, and the writing is beautiful. There’s a conversational flow to the narrative and such vivid descriptions that I felt like I was watching the story unfold before me instead of reading it. In fact, the setting is a character, and White does a brilliant job painting the portraits of two cities in healing mode. The scars from Hurricane Katrina and the recent oil spill are still visible, but White shows that the people of the South are resilient. Julie questions why people would continue to rebuild and live in a disaster-prone area, but she soon learns why people love to call Biloxi and New Orleans home.
White tackles a lot in The Beach Trees, from lost siblings and family secrets to rebuilding homes and lives after disaster. There are some profound moments, some life lessons, but they never come across as melodramatic or maudlin. White takes what everyone loves about the South — the people, the architecture, the culture, and the landscape — and brings it to life. The Beach Trees is a novel to savor and one I won’t soon forget.
Check out my reviews of other Karen White books:
The House on Tradd Street
The Girl on Legare Street
The Lost Hours
On Folly Beach
Falling Home
Thanks to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to participate in the blog tour for The Beach Trees. To follow the tour, click here.
Disclosure: I received a copy of The Beach Trees from NAL/Penguin for review purposes. I am an IndieBound affiliate and an Amazon associate.
© 2011 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
Wow, you’ve made this book sound amazing! Karen White is doing an event here next week and I plan to buy the book then.
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It was amazing! It’s great that you’re able to attend the event. Hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.
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Sounds ok 🙂
I am finally checking some blogs (though I do not google reader but what is a girl to do)
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I hope you give it a try! I assume you’re referring to the Blogger problems? I’m so glad I made the switch to WordPress last year!
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Oh, I simply must have this one! I’ve been a big fan of Karen White ever since I read her stories about Tradd Street and Folly Beach.
Thanks for whetting my appetite for another great read.
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If you loved Karen White’s previous novels, I’m sure you’ll love this one!
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I’m looking forward to finishing up this book. I can’t wait for my tour stop next Tuesday!
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Looking forward to reading your thoughts. Hope you love it as much as I did!
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Must get to this one.
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Can’t wait to hear what you think of it!
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Your opening comments are fascinating! I think it says a lot when you love an author and their most recent book impresses you. There’s a lot of expectations there, known or unknown, for an author to live up to! I’m so glad she continues to do that for you.
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Thanks, Trish! Karen White hasn’t let me down yet!
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Anna, I will look for this book and others by this author. Very lovely review!
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Thanks, Suko! I think you would really enjoy White’s books.
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This sounds so good. It sounds like one of those that make you stay up late to read more!!!
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Yes! I did stay up late reading it, and when I finally fell asleep, I dreamed I was on the beach.
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This is one for my must read summer reading list. I adore Karen White ever since I read Tradd Street. I can’t wait to read more by her.
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If you love Karen White’s books, you must read this one!
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White does such a good job with blending the stories from different centuries and of creating a sense of place.
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Yes, she does, and while in On Folly Beach, I thought the historical story was more interesting than the present-day story, this time, I was engrossed in both.
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I just received a copy of this one from the publisher the other day and I can’t tell you how excited I am to get to it. I finished ‘Falling Home’ this morning and loved it. I’ve enjoyed everything White has written.
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I can’t wait to see what you think of this one. Looking forward to your Falling Home review!
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Great review Anna. I don’t know why I still haven’t read Karen White’s books. Gah, just not enough time. I do have one of her novels on my shelf and look forward to it!
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I know the feeling of not having enough time to read everything you want. Hope you’re able to make time to read White soon!
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i don’t know why i put off reading a karen white book for so long! i really need to change this and read one of her books! i always hear such good things about her writing and her novels.
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Yes, definitely! This would be a good one to start with.
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I haven’t read any of White’s novels, but this one sounds like a good place to start. Wonderful review!
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Thanks, Kim! I really hope you read this one.
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I really enjoy Karen Whites books as well and this sounds like she hit it out of the park again!
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Yes, she did. I’m confident you’d like this one if you’ve enjoyed her past books.
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I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by Karen White, but this sounds wonderful. You’ve really made it sounds like one I could love.
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Great! I hope you’ll give this one a try.
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I’ve enjoyed this author in the past; must try this one –nice review Anna.
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Thanks, Diane!
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“White once again has created a place I’d love to live and characters I’d love to know in real life.”
I feel that way every time I read one of Karen White’s books! Her settings are always as imaginative as her characters, and I feel like I could hop right into her novels. I loved On Folly Beach for that reason. Glad you liked this one so much — definitely adding it to my wishlist!
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Then you’re really in for a treat!
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Anna, I agree, this was a fantastic book. I am always amazed at how she weaves such great mysteries into her stories. She’s really become a favorite author of mine.
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She’s now one of mine, too. I think it’s easy to believe that her books are more “chick lit” given the covers, etc., but they are so much deeper than that.
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“had a hard time pulling myself out of the story to get back to the real world” – I love it when a book grabs me like this. I haven’t read anything my Karen White and it sounds like I’m really missing out!
As always, thanks for being a part of the tour – we really appreciate your reviews.
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You’re very welcome! I hope you give one of White’s books a try. The Beach Trees would be a great place to start.
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I have this one on my shelf. Looks fantastic. I’ve only read her Tradd Street books so far.
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Oh, you definitely have to read this book and On Folly Beach. Her Tradd Street books are fun, but the ones I just mentioned are better. 🙂
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[…] The House on Tradd Street The Girl on Legare Street The Lost Hours On Folly Beach Falling Home The Beach Trees […]
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[…] Friday, May 13th: Diary of an Eccentric […]
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Thanks for your review. We disagree about the book, however. The author has one psychotic murderer in the book. That person is also the only character of a particular minority group. That shows what the author thinks of that minority group, especially when false stereotypes of mental illness have been used to justify discrimination and deliberate harm of that group for a long time.
I have studied how literature can break down–or, as in the case of this book, reinforce–prejudices, and this makes me more aware of the damages that can be done when authors make the choice Karen White did. This was my first book of hers that I read, and due to the negative and unnecessary stereotyping, I have no desire to read another.
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Hi Christina! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, even if we viewed this one differently.
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