The Beach at Painter's Cove

by Shelley Noble

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Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML: From the New York Times bestselling author of Whisper Beach comes another heartwarming story of four generations of women who reunite in their crumbling family mansion by the sea for a dramatic summer filled with love, family, secrets and sisterhood. The Whitaker family's Connecticut mansion, Muses by the Sea, has always been a haven for artists, a hotbed of creativity, extravagances, and the occasional scandal. Art patrons for generations, the Whitakers supported strangers but drained the life out of each other. Now, after being estranged for years, four generations of Whitaker women find themselves once again at The Muses. Leo, the Whitaker matriarch, lives in the rambling mansion crammed with artwork and junk. She plans to stay there until she joins her husband Wes on the knoll overlooking the cove and meadow where they first met. Her sister-in-law Fae, the town eccentric, is desperate to keep a secret she has been hiding for years. Jillian, is a jet setting actress, down on her luck, and has run out of men to support her. She thinks selling The Muses will make life easier for her mother, Leo, and Fae by moving them into assisted living. The sale will also bring her the funds to get herself back on top. Issy, Jillian's daughter, has a successful life as a museum exhibit designer that takes her around the world. But the Muses and her grandmother are the only family she's known and when her sister leaves her own children with Leo, Issy knows she has to step in to help. Steph, is only twelve-years-old and desperately needs someone to fire her imagination and bring her out of her shell. What she begins to discover at the Muses could change the course of her future. As Issy martials the family together to restore the mansion and catalogue the massive art collection, a surprising thing happens. Despite storms and moonlight dancing, diva attacks and cat fights, trips to the beach and flights of fancy, these four generations of erratic, dramatic women may just find a way to save the Muses and reunite their family. .… (more)

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THE BEACH AT PAINTER'S COVE by Shelley Noble is a tale about the Whitaker family, of a summer when truths are revealed and feuds are addressed. It all starts with Issy's sister, Vivianne, leaving her children at the Muses by the Sea, the Whitaker family's Connecticut mansion and letting Issy and Vivianne's grandmother, Leo, take care of them. Just as Jillian left Vivianne and Issy with Leo when they were little. But, then Leo is taken ill and is taken to the hospital and Vivianne's children frantically contact their aunt that they hardly know to come because there is no one else to take care of them. And, Issy has to leave work to go home, the first time in a long while and not only deal with her three nieces, but with some troubling news about the Muse.

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION! (

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MaraBlaise | Jul 23, 2022 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Family saga with plenty of conflicts. Very character driven just like I enjoy most. The setting is quite nice, too.

herzogm | Oct 6, 2019 |

Issy gets called to her childhood home Muses by the Sea, after her sister drops off her children with their grandmother Leo and great aunt Fae. Leo has a small accident and a police officer calls Issy asking if she can come care for the kids since her grandmother is in the hospital and Fae is unaccounted for.

When Issy gets to Muses there is a ton of family drama to deal with. The kids feel like they've been abandoned and Issy wonders if this could be possible. After all, their own mother Jillian gave them up to Leo and Fae.

In addition, Issy soon learns that Leo may be in worse shape physically, mentally and financially than she's realized.

Suddenly everything falls on Issy's plate.

I had a lot of trouble getting into this story. The Muses sounded like a really cool place and Issy, Leo, Fae and Chloe were all very likable.
I just couldn't get super invested in the story. (

)

Mishale1 | Dec 29, 2018 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Better than average Chick-Lit. Yes, there’s a little romance, but it’s not smarmy. Yes, the friendship theme and the coming-home theme are there, also. Dysfunctional family, family secrets – yep, got those, too. And a beach! I do wish she'd gotten the details, right, though. A skill saw for cutting up storm-downed branches? C'mon.

As the cover says, “four generations of erratic, dramatic women”, star in this book. And their story is woven around the old home place on the beach, which used to be an artists’ colony. Saving the house, saving the art, saving relationships – is there any better beach read? (

)

countrylife | Apr 3, 2018 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Great read about how diverse family situations can bring out truths, hardship and determination to overcome enormous situations.
This is a beautiful book set at a Beach Cove filled with artists, the rich the famous and they're amazing lives. Shelley Noble brings out a multitude of stories and feelings of the characters and makes you feel like you personally know them. (

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ldr259 | Mar 2, 2018 |

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Canonical title

The Beach at Painter's Cove

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2017-06-13

People/Characters

Isabelle 'Issy' Whitaker York

Paolo

Chloe Collins

Leonore 'Leo' Eberhart Whitaker

Wesley Whitaker

(show all 9 items)

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Important events

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Epigraph

Dedication

To all my readers who love the beach and the stories it reveals about us

First words

(Epigraph to Chapter 1:)
Summer 1962 - THE PAINTER'S COVE GAZETTE. Muses by the Sea, ancestral home of the Whitaker family and renowned artist colony, was the scene of a public garden party last week where local residents were invited to meet and greet those artists currently in residence.

The Present: Jillian York adjusted her sunglasses and dashed off her signature with a flourish before handing the tablet back to the cabana boy.

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Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Whisper Beach comes another heartwarming story of four generations of women who reunite in their crumbling family mansion by the sea for a dramatic summer filled with love, family, secrets and sisterhood.

The Whitaker family's Connecticut mansion, Muses by the Sea, has always been a haven for artists, a hotbed of creativity, extravagances, and the occasional scandal. Art patrons for generations, the Whitakers supported strangers but drained the life out of each other. Now, after being estranged for years, four generations of Whitaker women find themselves once again at The Muses.
Leo, the Whitaker matriarch, lives in the rambling mansion crammed with artwork and junk. She plans to stay there until she joins her husband Wes on the knoll overlooking the cove and meadow where they first met. Her sister-in-law Fae, the town eccentric, is desperate to keep a secret she has been hiding for years.
Jillian, is a jet setting actress, down on her luck, and has run out of men to support her. She thinks selling The Muses will make life easier for her mother, Leo, and Fae by moving them into assisted living. The sale will also bring her the funds to get herself back on top.
Issy, Jillian's daughter, has a successful life as a museum exhibit designer that takes her around the world. But the Muses and her grandmother are the only family she's known and when her sister leaves her own children with Leo, Issy knows she has to step in to help.
Steph, is only twelve-years-old and desperately needs someone to fire her imagination and bring her out of her shell. What she begins to discover at the Muses could change the course of her future.
As Issy martials the family together to restore the mansion and catalogue the massive art collection, a surprising thing happens. Despite storms and moonlight dancing, diva attacks and cat fights, trips to the beach and flights of fancy, these four generations of erratic, dramatic women may just find a way to save the Muses and reunite their family.

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