Tour: Beachcombers by Nancy Thayer

Beachcombers by Nancy Thayer

The book tells the story of the Fox family-–father Jim, who has lost his wife to depression/suicide-–and his three lovely daughters. The daughters congregate in the family home on Nantucket Island when the middle daughter, Emma, suffers a broken engagement and the loss of her job and savings. Older sister Abbie flies home from London where she has been working as an au pair, and Lily, the spoiled daughter, done as well as Amy March, gets her very pretty feathers ruffled when Abbie and Emma bond over her head, leaving her out, even though she is the one daughter who has remained on the island at home with their father. Also on the scene this summer is renter Marina, who is reeling from one of those hideous heart-rending shocks-–after trying to have a baby with her husband for years, her husband confesses that he in love with her best friend and not only that but the best friend is pregnant. Thankfully, Jim Fox is just what the cardiologist ordered.


My Thoughts

Nancy Thayer does it once again! A page-turning magnificent summer read!! I had no brothers, just my two sisters and I, so I could relate on quite a few levels with the sisters.  The characters are complex yet realistic, set against the interesting, yet wonderful background of Nantucket. Manyissues are touched in the novel, family relations, romance, healing, and much, much more.  Ms. Thayer's writing is so smooth, yet intricate that you can see the characters come to life from the pages.  If your read one book this summer, read Beachcombers!! Absolutely fantastic!!

About the Author

I was born December 14, 1943 (Sagittarius!) in Emporia, Kansas, the first of three children, and for six years, the only one. My parents read to me a lot, and from Winnie-the-Pooh on, I knew I wanted to be a writer. I grew up in Wichita, Kansas, where I worked, in high school, as a "soda jerk" at a drugstore. What a great job! I was allowed to make myself any kind of sundae I wanted. . . .my specialty was hot fudge sauce, marshmallow fluff, whipped cream, and nuts. I didn't really care about the ice cream.

I attended the University of Wichita, got married at twenty, and moved to Kansas City, where I finished my bachelor's degree and got a master's in English literature. I also got to travel with my academic, peripatetic, husband. We lived in Iowa, Paris, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Amsterdam, Wisconsin, Vancouver, Massachusetts, and Helsinki before being divorced at the end of the seventies.


During my twenties I either taught freshmen English in various colleges or hid away at home, writing fiction I was too timid to send around. I wish I had taken more creative writing courses. I did take one at the University of Iowa taught by C.D.B. Bryan, who was immensely helpful. I recommend writers' workshops to any aspiring writers.

Gradually my short stories were accepted by various college literary reviews, and in 1978 my first novel, Stepping, was accepted by Doubleday, who published it in January of 1980. By then I was divorced, with a son, Josh, who was 5, and a daughter, Sam, who was 3. We lived in Williamstown, Massachusetts, with two cats and one dog, who kept us safe and sane.

NancyThayer.com