Wednesday, January 16, 2008

The Last Beach Bungalow-Jennie Nash

The Last Beach Bungalow
Jennie Nash
Berkley, Feb 2008, $14.00
ISBN: 9780425219270

The fifth anniversary of her being cancer free has arrived for April Newton; but she does not feel like celebrating the milestone. Physically she may be doing well, but mentally she is depressed. She believes her once close relationship with her husband is slowly eroding even as he constructs their “dream home”.

Instead she finds contentment with a nearby Redondo Beach bungalow, whose owner Peg has put up for sale. Instead of the dream house she prefers THE LAST BEACH BUNGALOW. However, she wonders how much she will hurt her husband if she tells him how she feels.

This is a fascinating character study of a woman who has physically defeated cancer, but mentally is still fighting windmills. April is a wonderful person struggling with the dilemma of whether to tell or not to tell her spouse as that is the question she must face. If she tells him how she feels, she will hurt him as he is building their new dream house out of love for her; if she does not, she will go deeper into depression and he will know something is wrong. THE LAST BEACH BUNGALOW is a strong family drama that realistically looks deep at after the cancer is gone.

Harriet Klausner

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