I was attracted to this book by the cover and the title. Shallow but sometimes that is all it needs to draw my attention to a book. I have never read any Veronica Henry before and also thought it would be a nice to try a new author. I was not disappointed and I will seek out her other books, but only because I want to compare them to this one.
The Beach Hut, premise is the stories behind the doors of the little beach huts where you can actually stay overnight in (something I never knew) on the Dorset coast. The book starts by introducing us to Roy who maintains the huts through the seasons and Jane Milton one of the residents of the first hut on the beach, which has been in her family since they were built. However, Jane’s circumstances have suddenly changed and the hut is now up for sale. The hut holds many secrets and throughout the book we learn all about Jane’s past, her present along with the lives of her family but also by the end we learn about Jane’s future, and will it still involve being at the Beach Hut.
The rest of the book is given over to stories of the other hut owners and renters who descend onto Everdene Sands every year. These stories interweave with the story of Jane Milton, and actually at times I completely los where I was and wonder if I had missed part of the book out. Getting into the story of Jane and then suddenly being introduced to three or four new characters which other than their connection with the beach hut have no relevance to the main storyline.
This all said it is a fairly easy read, and it is just worth noting that you should treat the book, as lots of little short stories all upon reflection would probably make worthy novels in their own right if they were fleshed out. If you can imagine sat on a beach people watching and wondering what stories all these strangers had – then this book is that people watching in written format.
A good read for a beach holiday either at home or abroad, and I actually like the idea of using something inanimate such as a beach hut – to bring together families, friends, lovers and enemies to base a story around.
In some ways I loved this book because of the whole idea of the beach huts and the colours, the sound of the sea the feel of the sand….I could go on. It simply was I was suddenly reading and getting into the story and all of sudden like an emergency stop we are then on another road and another story. I am going to seek out other Victoria Henry novel because I did like her style of writing and the warmth she gave to the main characters in this particular novel.
I am lucky enough to live near a beach and therefore I thought I could not leave this post without mentioning our beach huts (which the local council call sun huts – you cannot sleep in these ones)
If anything this book has made me want to escape to a beach hut you can stay in, plenty of good books, good food and company with a lovely walk along the beach to blow the cobwebs away.
The Book Jotter 