Thoroughly enjoyable story of sisterhood and female bonding.

Four women of various ages, from different walks-of-life, with assorted personal issues, are thrown together in a breast cancer support group each was reluctant to participate in. As their individual troubles (aside from the cancer) unravel, and their pasts are revealed, they unexpectedly help each other make journeys of resolution, forgiveness and self-sufficiency. They each learn to prioritize their lives and move forward in positive directions.

I love stories of women who would otherwise have nothing in common make a connection and develop reliable and strong friendships!

Absolutely Unputdownable!!!

Rita Blair Rollins has no idea why Doc Hastings thinks she is qualified to lead a women's breast cancer support group. She figures they will soon find out just how unqualified she is and find someone else. But being the kind soul she is, she leaps to the challenge. She knows too that this is just one more step in an anonymous benefactor donating money for a much-needed Women's Health Center on Martha's Vineyard.

Katie Gillette is an American pop princess who has taken the music world by storm. Most of her material has been covers of her mothers songs, her mother being a huge star in the 70s. Her father, who helped make her mother a star, has done the same with Katie. After a long time trying to get Katie booked in Central Park, he succeeds in a booking for the 4th of July. Katie should be thrilled. But she isn't. How can she tell her father she won't be able to perform? How can she tell him that she is not only pregnant but also has breast cancer? To get away from it all, she leaves the Big Apple for Martha's Vineyard, eventually reconciling with her reclusive mother who lives there.

Hannah has lived on Martha's Vineyard for years moving there after a shameful incident has made her give up her dream of becoming a doctor. She is married with three children, including one rebellious teenager. A schoolteacher, Hannah's marriage has been troubled due to her husband's distance and she has struck up a friendship with the school principal. She has her hands full with her family and her radiation treatments, but she really hopes for more than friendship with the principal.

Faye is a successful business woman from Boston whose cancer has returned. She is sure this time it will be fatal. Before she dies she wants to find the son who she hasn't heard from in 10 years. He fled their Martha's Vineyard beach house, blaming himself for a family tragedy. Needing some time for herself, she leaves Boston for the beach house, and all its memories. She is shocked to find herself face to face with the woman she blames for breaking up her marriage.

These four very different women forge a friendship and help each other through many different battles in addition to their breast cancer. Jean Stone has written a real pageturner. I absolutely couldn't put it down. This is the first book I've read by this author and it certainly won't be the last. Reminiscent of books by authors such as Kristin Hannah, Luanne Rice, and Barbara Delinsky, this book will also appeal to romance readers who like that happily-ever-after ending.

poignant drama

An anonymous benefactor is willing to contribute to a wellness center if the residents of Martha's Vineyard show they want it. Doctor Hastings comes up with the idea of a breast cancer support group to show how much the center is needed and asks Rita Blair-Rollins to be the head of it. She reluctantly agrees because she wants what is best to help see her three charges through their ordeals.

Katie is a teen-age rock star who won't start treatment until she gives birth to her baby; her father, who molded her career, doesn't want to recognize his daughter's different priorities. Hannah, has to emotionally support her weak husband and wild fifteen-year old daughter while she is undergoing chemotherapy. Faye, a Boston businesswoman, thinks she has nothing to live for now that her cancer has reoccurred. These four women share their trials and triumphs and in the process form a bond that can never be broken.

If the audience seeks a happily ever ending, BEACH ROSES is not the book to read. However, the plot provides courage and hope when survival seems dimmer than a black hole. These intrepid women cannot ignore their troubles, but find faith with one another and some other caring friends. Jean Stone writes a poignant drama that focuses on human triumph during the most traumatic faults and frailties.

Harriet Klausner