At The Breakers

Summary

A woman in trouble tries to change her life in a beautifully written novel about the complex demands and joys and risks of all kinds of love (Kim Edwards, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter).

Plot

Jo Sinclair, a single parent of four children, has fled an abusive relationship, winding up in Sea Cove, New Jersey, in front of The Breakers, a salty old hotel in the process of renovation. In this unlikely setting, Jo is intent on finding a way to renovate herself, to reclaim the promising life that was derailed by pregnancy when she was fourteen. She impulsively convinces the owner to give her a job painting the rooms and settles in with her youngest child, thirteen-year-old Nick.

A grand cast of characters wanders through this little world, among them Iris Zephyr, the hotel''s ninety-two-year-old permanent boarder; Charlie, a noble mixed breed dog; Wendy, Jo''s tough eighteen-year-old daughter, who has suffered most from her mother''s past mistakes; and Marco, the nearby gas station owner, who seems likely to become her mother''s next mistake. But soon Jo''s former teacher, a well-known and exuberant poet, arrives on the premises to stir everything up, including Jo''s yearning for a life of art and committed love.

Themes

At The Breakers is a deeply felt and beautifully written novel about forgiveness and reconciliation by the acclaimed author of Come and Go, Molly Snow. Its heroine, put through the fire, comes out with a chance for happiness—if she can muster the faith, courage, and optimism to take that chance.

"Incisive, witty prose." —Kirkus Reviews