The House on Fripp Island by Rebecca Kaufman is a great read! A real engrossing page-turner and worth the time of a read!!

An intriguing read a summer vacation two couples so involving so page turning.A book I picked up to read a few pages was so caught up read way to late into the night. Perfect read to take you out of your world and off to this Island these so well written characters.#netgalley#hmh

A completely enthralling vacation thrill - this is a trope we’ve all seen (unhappy families vacationing together, what could go wrong?) but Kaufman is so artful that it never feels trite. The juiciest prologue I’ve read in ages, I couldn’t put it down.

I found this book to be really intriguing, despite the fact it covered a wide range of disturbing topics (potential reader sensitivity to drugs, sexual innuendos). I don't normally gravitate to this genre of books, but I found myself staying up way too late to read it, as I was eager to find out what happened next. An interesting, yet dark, family drama of a book.

NO SPOILERS....

I just finished the last page of this book minutes ago — with mixed feelings.
MOSTLY.....I liked it - well- I’m glad I read it anyway. But....I’ll be thinking about this book for sometime. I’ve already had a few lengthy conversations with my husband - Paul - about this novel.
CLEARLY — I didn’t hate it - yet I sure don’t feel satisfied either.
I’ll try to explain....
But first....
I was overly jazzed with Rebecca Kaufman’s book, “The Gunners”....a story that some people compared with “The Big Chill”...
Point is....I was enamored! I enjoyed everything about it!!!!

This book...”The House on Fripp Island”, felt much darker than “The Gunners’s”. To me ....there were too many misleading clues .....and not all the loose ends tied well together. I also felt the pacing of the storytelling was a little uneven....as if a reward-carrot was hanging from a string for me to catch....but when I finally did catch it....it was an old-spoiled-tasteless carrot. Disappointing! And I was SAD!

Before I share more details about the characters - plot - themes - relationship- complexities - secrets - etc....let me say...
I’m a FAN of REBECCA KAUFFMAN.....in the same way I’m a fan of the
Chuck Lorre- ( who writes some of the most entertaining sitcoms ever written).....
There is something very FRESH- ALIVE- IN YOUR FACE - present about the way Rebecca writes. I’d like to read every book she writes!!! Rebecca’s book are of real interest to me.
But ....
by the END of this book —I was left feeling very sad! And left with QUESTIONS!
Rebecca Kauffman - is not stupid - I think every word of her book had a purpose — but I’m still grappling — wishing to find the few missing puzzle pieces.
I don’t feel complete - nor fully satisfied with the totality of this novel — but I CARED FOR ALL THE CHARACTERS. I felt empathy for everyone.
Rebecca gave us enough understanding of everyone’s idiosyncrasies - that my fricken heart to ache.

This was the type of vacation that turned confusing, sickening, and extremely unsettling.
Life can be cruel!

A little more sharing....( basic plot descriptions and my average book report):
Scott Daly and his wife Lisa were the winner of a big-ticket raffle to an “All Expenses Paid. Four days and nights at Fripp Island Resort. Redeemable through the next year calendar”.

The island was situated just off the coast of South Carolina, midway between Charleston and Savannah.
Scott and Lisa had two daughters: Rae was 14 years old. Kimmy was 11 years old.

Lisa suggested they invite her best friend from childhood, Poppy, and her family to join them on vacation.
Poppy and her husband, John Ford, lived outside Wheeling, West Virginia. Their son Ryan, was 17 years old. Their daughter Alex, was 11.

Lisa grew up next door to Poppy - They had been best friends since they were five years of age.
Poppy’s family still lived next door to Lisa’s mother, Carol.

When Carol got sick, Poppy took on the role of surrogate daughter — she lived next-door.
Poppy married into the same financial bracket that she grew up in when she married John.
Lisa moved many years ago - moved up the financial ladder when she married Scott. From a blue collar lifestyle to a white collar lifestyle.

Poppy was a huge helped to Carol when she was sick -with appointments, delivering
food, and other essentials she may have needed.
Lisa and Poppy talked on the phone often- but rarely had a chance to see each other given they didn’t live next-door to one another any longer.
Lisa wanted to give Poppy and her family this paid-for vacation as a way to thank her for caring for her mother.

Given that Poppy and their family weren’t in the same economical bracket as Lisa and Scott were, Lisa knew her friend well—
Poppy would normally have refused a paid gifted vacation from her friend —but since this was an all expense paid ‘raffle’ gift- Lisa was Poppy and John they would accept. And they did. But....it was questionable as to how well fit the couples were socially together.
But....
Let the vacation begin....
Both families - The Daly’s and The Ford’s, settled into their Beach house. EVERY CHARACTER- adult and kids - had distinct characteristics you’ll remember well! But....I had questions about each of them from start to finish.

The adults started in with sangria drinks —while the four kids headed to the beach. Sounds normal enough....
But that’s just it - everything ‘seemed’ plausible and normal - until it didn’t.

There were meals together- golf for the guys - picnic lunches on the beach - swimming - gossiping - eavesdropping on conversations - secrets - misconstrued assumptions - jealousy feelings brewing - irritating and annoyances - judgments and comparisons between the families .... a little mystery...intrigue...and suspense —
And....
.......an ending to a beach vacation that is unsettling- to say the least!

A little undercutting dialogue sample:
“Poppy fingered the stem of her sangria glass and said, ‘why’s this thing so small?’
Am I supposed to stick my pinky out like this? Is that how the rich do?”
“Lisa laughed but was finding herself slightly irritated by Poppy’s constant references to the expense of things around the house and her commentary on how-out-of place she felt there”.
THIS WAS NOTHING....compared to the rest of the book

4 STARS... I RECOMMEND IT....but do not expect to be all happy dorie!

Lisa and her husband are rich and planning a vacation and invite Lisa’s old friend, Poppy, and her family along. Poppy is by no means in the same financial bracket as Lisa. The author did a great job of highlighting the differences between these two families and the reality that the rich are not any better off than anyone else when it comes to their family life. The old saying “money can’t buy happiness” is a strong theme of this book. It was a great read! I am now going to read the author’s other books!

Fripp Island, South Carolina is the kind of place the well to do summer. Lisa and her husband Scott and their children plan a getaway and invite Lisa’s old friend Poppy and her family to tag along. It’s the kind of place the younger Poppy and Lisa could have only dreamed of, Poppy still doesn’t have the kind of lifestyle that would permit such a vacation. So she packs up her family for a once in a lifetime vacation, only to discover that Lisa is deeply paranoid and Scott is focused on something other than his family. A story that shows that while the rich are different, they don’t really have it all