Barbara Delinsky's books have always appealed to me. Her newest, Sweet Salt Air is much more than just a perfect summer read. The Maine setting is of course gorgeous, but the character development here is special. Two friends reunite after 10 years at the home where they summered together growing up. One has a very famous doctor husband suffering from Multiple Schlerosis, the other has a secret. There's a handsome loner with an attitude in residence at the other end of the island. These ingredients would be enough for most storytellers. But here, Delinsky adds a choice for the characters that makes keeping the 10 year old secret a moral dilemma. When the characters are faced with the quandry of whether to reveal the secret, the festering impasse becomes a matter of life and death.
This is way more than a beach read. It is a well-developed character study with the added features of romance and that beautiful Maine Island setting. The medical research forming the backbone of the story was presented in such a way as to avoid taking sides on some of the modern legal and ethical issues of stem-cell treatment and research, and yet was written to underscore many of the choices facing patients today as they decide whether to participate in trials, undergo new and untested treatments, etc.
I think it's one of Delinsky's best. Be sure to grab a copy. It's on the shelves now, so indulge yourself in a late summer treat.
Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for making a review copy available.
Title: Sweet Salt air
Author: Barbara Delinsky
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2013, 416 pages
Genre: fiction, romance,
Subject: multiple schlerosis, stem-cell treatments, privacy
Setting: island off the coast of Maine
Source: ARC from the publisher
Why did I read this book now? The setting and the subject matter interested me.
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Thank you for an awesome review.
ReplyDeleteGlad u loved this - perfect for summer.
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