“Would that some place be as close as Whisper Beach?”
“Maybe. It’s not a bad commute.”
“Commute? Really?” asked Joe.
Van shrugged. “I’m thinking about it. I have friends and family here, and a room at Dorie’s.”
“That would be great,” Joe said.
“I think it’s worth looking into, don’t you?”
“Me? Absolutely.”
“And so do I,” called Dorie from across the room. “So do I.”
There was a lot still to consider, to think through, to talk through, and plan, but this time Van wouldn’t let her fears drive her away. If things didn’t work out, well, at least she would have tried. And if they did, well, that would be even better.
Book Club Questions
1. Van left Whisper Beach twelve years ago and hasn’t been back or communicated with anyone. Why do you think she chose a funeral for her return?
2. What is it about coming “home” to Whisper Beach that Van is most afraid of? Is it one major reason or many reasons that add up to overwhelm her? Is her fear valid or has she built the fear out of proportion?
3. Van isn’t very sympathetic to Dana at first, if ever. Do you think in her heart Van thinks Dana deserves unhappiness because of what she did years before? What, if anything, changes her mind?
4. Can Van and Dana ever really be friends?
5. Why is Suze so adamant about not taking her family’s money? What kinds of “strings” are attached if she does accept help? How important is it to make it on your own?
6. Gigi says that she always did what was right, and look where it got her; widowed, unemployed with two small children to support. Do you feel sympathetic towards her? Or do you think she allowed people to take care of her and expects them to continue to do so? Why do you think Gigi always tried to do what was right? Or did she?
7. Van and Joe get off to a rocky start because of Van’s preconceptions. Do you think seeing Joe surrounded by wine bottles triggered her memory of childhood and colored her expectations of how Joe had turned out? What does her reaction say about Van?
8. Suze spends most of the book waiting for her grant application. What was the motivation for the theft of the application? Was it to hurt Suze or Van or something else entirely, like jealousy?
9. Van has been thinking about expanding her business. When Joe suggests the possibility of opening a branch in Whisper Beach, she is skeptical. What factors changed her mind? Do you think it is a viable choice? Will it be possible for her to run a successful, fulfilling business in her childhood home?
10. What do you think about Dorie and the way she has chosen to live her life? Why does she stay married to Harold? Is she destined to failure or can she make a success of the restaurant?
11. There are successes and failures among this once close-knit group. Were there victims in this story? Gigi? Van’s father? Van? Joe? Dana? Suze? Dorie? Bud? How did each of them cope with their situations? Who were the sympathetic characters?
12. Do Van and her father have a chance of developing a positive relationship? What are some of the challenges that they face?
13. Van has buried her desire for children by nurturing her career. Knowing how much Joe wants to have a family, will this be a deterrent for any future together? Do you think either of them will be happy with adoption, or will there always be hidden accusations and insecurities?
14. Much is made about one little episode when they were all teenagers. All their lives seemed to be affected by it in one way or another. Do people get over the humiliation or hurt they experienced as children or teenagers? Or will it always be a part of them that they can’t overcome?
15. It is hard enough to get over something inside yourself, how hard is it to change other peoples’ perceptions of you as a person? Will people always look at Van and remember her as the girl who ran away, or will they see the successful businesswoman that she has become?
16. Do you think the lingering and erupting emotions in Whisper Beach were more than the teenage episode should have provoked? Or was that incident merely a catalyst for some underlying reasons that existed then and now?
About the Author
Photo by Gary Brown
SHELLEY NOBLE is a former professional dancer and choreographer and has worked on a number of films. She lives at the Jersey shore where she loves to visit lighthouses and vintage carousels. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Romance Writers of America.
www.shelleynoble.com
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Also by Shelley Noble
A Newport Christmas Wedding (Novella)
Breakwater Bay
Stargazey Nights (Novella)
Stargazey Point
Holidays at Crescent Cover
Beach Colors
Credits
Cover design by Mary Schuck
Cover photograph © by Plainpicture
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Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
WHISPER BEACH. Copyright © 2015 by Shelley Freydont. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Chapter opener image © iofoto via iStock.
EPub Edition June 2015 ISBN 9780062319180
ISBN 978-0-06-231916-6
15 16 17 18 19 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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