The Hidden Beach

I look forward to Karen Swan's new title every summer. Her novels are easy reads and have strong female characters and family mystery Bonus - they are set in a foreign cities I'd like to visit! The Hidden Beach takes place in Stockholm and in the first chapter we learn of a family mystery. The books takes place over the course of a summer with flashbacks that reveal some of the background story. The flashbacks focus on Hanna's character but I would have like to have read more about Bell's character. Thank you to Publishers Group Canada Mcmillan and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advance copy.

This book is the perfect sunny weather, summer patio with an iced tea type of read. The characters are instantly welcoming, and right away you feel a connection to one of them. Hanna, the beautiful, but insecure mother of three, who fears what her future might hold and wavers in how to deal with what is thrown her way. Bell, the fun, generally light-hearted nanny, who has her own secrets and difficult past. Max, Hanna's partner and father to their three children, who is hard working and incredibly loyal. As these three navigate their respective relationships and struggles, as a reader you are drawn into their lives with ease, and your heart hopes for their successes and worries during their difficult moments. This story teaches us about love, friendships, marriage, children and the reality of what all those things mean. How we can expect our future to be one way, plan for a certain outcome, live a certain lifestyle and still have everything change in a heartbeat. Hanna and Bell, through their own (yet connected) stories, teach us that sometimes our heart has other plans for us.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a light, romantic read with characters you can easily relate too.

Based in Stockholm, a family’s life changes as a man awakes from a 7-year coma. Told mostly from the perspective of the nanny, Bell must help the Von Greyerz’s deal with the latest addition to the family.

Without giving too much away, this perfect was the perfect “beach read with a mix of mystery”. I’m also more intrigued to visit Sweden now...I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for a light summer read!

4/5 stars!

When a book can make you forget you're sitting on the tarmac waiting for your delayed flight to take off, it's a good one. That happened to me when I started reading Karen Swan's latest novel, The Hidden Beach. I began reading while waiting for my flight home from London and it kept me company as the boarding time was delayed and then, eventually, as we waited on the plane to be cleared for take off. I legitimately do not know how long we were waiting for...an hour?...because Swan's novel had me so riveted. Definitely a good sign. A note: this flight was back on March 7, just before the world blew up and COVID-19 really started to affect North America. It caused some issues for me but my trip was great and my family and I are still healthy.

Here's the synopsis:
In the oldest part of Stockholm, Bell Everhurst is working as a nanny for an affluent family. Hanna and Max Von Greyerz are parents to 7 year-old Linus, and 5-year old twins Ellinor and Tilde, and Bell has been with the family for over two years.
One early Spring morning, as she’s rushing out to take the children to school, she answers the phone – and everything changes. A woman from a clinic she’s never heard of asks her to pass on the message that Hanna’s husband is awake.
Bell is confused. She clearly just saw Max walking out of the house a few minutes earlier, but the woman mentioned Hanna by name . . .
When she gets hold of her employer, the truth is revealed: Hanna’s first husband fell into a coma seven years earlier, following an accident. But now he’s awake. And life is going to change for them all.

Sounds pretty intense, doesn't it? The synopsis doesn't lie. The story IS intense. It actually got a lot darker than I anticipated but it worked. It exposed characters as being more grey than black and white, which is super realistic even though it's sometimes hard to read about characters who are less than perfect.

I've never been to Stockholm so I couldn't say if the way Swan wrote about it was accurate but I choose to believe it is. I know she travels to every place she writes about and does her research (even if she got some facts wrong about Canada in a book a few years ago...and apparently this Canadian can't let it go *shrugs*). The Stockholm she wrote about, especially the archipelago, was so swoonworthy. It sounded so idyllic and really fit the story Swan told.

The story is told mostly from Bell's perspective. There are a few parts that are told by a man in the past that shed a little bit of light on the current situation Bell and her employers find themselves in. I liked that Bell was the focus of the story or, rather, it was her perspective the reader viewed the story from. She was directly involved in the drama but she was also kind of an outsider. It was an interesting way to do it - and you eventually realize she's way more wrapped up in this family than any of them care to admit.

This is two back to back winners from Karen Swan. I really, really liked The Christmas Party (review here). Her books are hit and miss for me but I always want to try them out because when they're a winner, they're such great stories that you're completely immersed in. It's not that the others are misses, really, it's that the ones that are hits are SO good.

Karen Swan's latest novel, The Hidden Beach, clearly illustrates that humans are flawed. Familial and romantic relationships are really hard to navigate sometimes. The story is sweet and sad and you'll feel all the other emotions while reading it (including serious wanderlust, especially now) but it's worth the heartache.

*A copy of this novel was provided by the Canadian publisher, Publishers Group Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

An unexpected story!  

After seven years in a coma, the result of a tragic accident, he awakens to find his life has left him behind.  A wife who has seemingly moved on without thought.  A son who didn't even know of his existence.  But he is determined to get it all back.

The story is mostly told from the perspective of the wife and son, but slowly all the details come together in a rather unusual, thought provoking series of revelations.

Swan crafts the suspense masterfully,; this was a book that would not be put down until the very last line had been read and savored.   Highly recommend!

[Many thanks to Netgalley and the author for the opportunity to read a copy of this book. I was not required to write a review.  The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.]