The High Tide Club

As always, thank you to the author and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in advance.

WARNING: THIS IS VERY LONG AND I GO ON AND ON AND ON.

I loved this! It's a massive book (nearly 500 pages) of pure, compulsively readable storytelling. Did I think it was perfect? No. But I thought it was wonderful enough to give five stars and I will detail what I thought wasn't perfect about it, but first what I loved:

I loved the sweet Southern setting of Georgia. I loved that Brooke was a female lawyer with her own struggling practice, that she was a single mother and that she was not reliant upon anybody for her and her son's survival, not even her family and especially not upon a man. I loved the history of the old women, of their show more debutante Southern belle lives in the 1940s. I loved the mystery of the secrets they left behind that Mary Kay Andrews masterfully unraveled to the reader in surprising ways. Ms. Andrews weaved such a complicated, fantastic story that I would be happy to keep reading on and on about. The ending was a little cliche, but you know, I was okay with it.

What I feel was not five-star worthy: I am struggling with white women writing about black characters and writing them in the first-person (the latter of which I think is worse than the former.) I do not believe anyone means any harm in doing this. However, It is one thing when Fannie Flagg did it in the 1970s, when the unhinged, horrific, it's-okay-because-the-"president"-agrees-with-me!, in your face racism was less balked at (which doesn't make it okay, but makes it less perverse, in a way.) But it's 2018. Black people are being killed for merely existing today and no white person can speak to that. Not a single one. Not even those whose spouses are black or whose children are black. If you are not black, you cannot pretend to know their daily struggles with stepping out the door and hoping today they don't get killed for stopping to tie their shoe-laces or something equally as mundane. In the same light, although fiction, I do not think it can be taken for granted any longer that a white author can write about black people in the stereotypical sense. A white author cannot write dialogue in which they think is an accurate depiction of how black people speak either to white people or to black people. Even if it is accurate, it is not a white person's place to write for them or about them in that way. However good the intentions, there is very little chance it will not come off as stereotypical and racist.

I appreciate that Ms. Andrews gave the characters of color in her novel depth and strength and heart. To a man/woman, all the people of color in The High Tide Club were respectable, hard-working, caring people and were given the time of day, in my opinion. Felicia, especially, was given better credentials and a more prestigious background than many of her white counterparts. It remains, however, that the people of color were working for a white, elderly woman. Josephine held the key to their livelihoods and while she didn't deny them anything (other than the ownership of Oyster Bluff...), they were still at her will.

As a white woman, I will continue to struggle with white authors who try to write about the experiences and lives of black people and other people of color. I'm not sure it something that can or should be done any longer. Let us move out of the way of people of color so that they may write their own stories and we can read them and listen to them. Let us not write for them. show less

4.5 stars.

Weaving seamlessly back and forth in time, The High Tide Club by Mary Kay Andrews is an engrossing novel that features touching friendships and an intriguing mystery.

In 1941, Josephine Bettendorf, Millie Updegraff, Ruth Mattingly and Varina Shaddix are close friends who are as thick as thieves. However, Millie's engagement party celebrating her upcoming wedding to Russell Strickland is a turning point in their friendship. The mystery surrounding Russell's inexplicable disappearance from Josephine's family's island has endured for decades. All of the women but Varina went on to marry and over the years, the women stopped speaking to one another.

In the present, ninety-nine year old Josephine Bettendorf Warrick lives in the house show more her father built on picturesque island off the Georgia coast. Full of regret for events in the past, she asks lawyer Brooke Trappnell to ensure her property will not be purchased by the state and added an existing state park. Josephine also requests Brooke track down Millie, Ruth and Varina, all of whom she has been estranged from for decades. Fully realizing the women are most likely no longer alive, Brooke nonetheless sets out to locate them. Ruth has indeed passed away, but Brooke convinces her granddaughter, Lizzie Quinlan, to meet with Josephine. Varina is still living and along with her great niece, Felicia, they also join Lizzie at Josephine's estate. Millie has also passed on, but Brooke locates her daughter and invites her to the meeting where Josephine begins recounting the events of the past. However, right before she can clear up the mystery of what happened to Russell, Josephine passes away, leaving the fate of her estate up in the air.

Brooke is a single mother to three year old son, Henry. She is barely eking out a living in the small town in which she lives and she is definitely curious when Josephine summons her to the island. When she discovers there is a conflict of interest with one of her new client's requests, Brooke enlists the aid of her former mentor and boss, Gabe Wynant, to take care of those duties. Despite Josephine's death, Brooke and Gabe continue working together to try to fulfill her last wishes. Along with Lizzie and Felicia, Brooke tries to prove a stunning claim that could have unexpected ramifications for Josephine's estate if it turns out to be true. In the midst of all of the uncertainty surrounding her client's affairs, Brooke's life is complicated by an unexpected romance and the sudden appearance of someone from her unresolved past.

With a delightful cast of endearing characters, an idyllic setting and a perplexing mystery, The High Tide Club is a captivating novel. This well-plotted story moves at a brisk pace and the events from the past are just as fascinating as the ones in the present. As the storyline unfolds, long held secrets are revealed through riveting flashbacks that whisk readers back to the 1940s. Mary Kay Andrews brings the novel to an exciting, jaw-dropping conclusion that wraps up all of the various story arcs. A wonderful novel that I absolutely loved and highly recommend. show less

This is the first book I have read by Mary Kay Andrews – and I LOVED it! The problem with newly discovering a “seasoned” author like Ms. Andrews is that now I must go buy all her past books. I have really been missing out on a memorable author.

This is a story of the strength of friendships – old friends, new friends. Throw in some romance, some humor, secrets, deception, heartache, an unsolved murder and you have a story that keeps you entranced to the very end. Shut out the world and spend some time on Talisa Island.

The story alternates between 1941 and the present. In 1941 Josephine, Millie, Ruth and Varina were the best of friends. Then one fateful night all their lives were changed forever. Now Josephine is 99 years old show more and is dying of lung cancer. It is time for her to find and make amends to her dear old friends. So she contacts Brooke, a local attorney and single mother of a three-year-old boy, who desperately needs the money this job offers. Josephine, having had no children, needs Brooke to help her find her old friends and/or their heirs, and to prevent her home from being taken by the state upon her death.

The writing in this book is superb. I could envision the old rundown ivy-covered mansion among the sweltering heat and towering palm trees. And the description of Josephine Bettendorf Warrick – well, I just have to quote it – “the color photograph of a woman with a mane of wild white hair, standing defiantly in front of what looked like a pink wedding cake of a mansion. The woman wore a full-length fur coat and high-top sneakers and had a double-barreled shotgun tucked in the crook of her right arm”. I knew immediately I was going to like this cantankerous, eccentric old lady. The younger set of characters in the present are just as delightful as the ladies from 1941. I fell in love with them all.

There are several past secrets to be unveiled throughout the book. Just as I thought I had a secret figured out there would be a new surprise just waiting to be uncovered. It definitely kept me guessing, and my interest never waned.

If you loved Karen White’s “Dreams of Falling”, you will love “The High Tide Club”.

I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own. show less

Three words: Phoned. it. in.

That's what this book appears to be. Something Andrews - an author whose books I've always enjoyed - phone in. Huge continuity errors, like an off-stage character that dies in WWII, first over Iwo Jima, then over Germany. A fragmented sentence ended with a period that is truly a fragment - just cut off half way through; I can't even guess what it was supposed to have conveyed. Monster gaps in the timeline, and I don't just mean time passes, but time passes where plot-important stuff happens and it's just ... gone. Like maybe it used to be there and someone went all highlight-and-delete happy without turning Track Changes on. The first half of the book is like a time warp, without the narrative overlay.
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There's supposedly a romance in here too, one that gets exactly two scenes. Normally this would be fine; this story isn't about the MC's romantic life. Except the story starts with Brooke being a single mom because she didn't tell the boy's father she got pregnant the night before he left for a 3 year research trip to Alaska, then continued not telling him. During the course of this story he comes back, hoping to start back up, having no idea he's a father. Even after he meets the boy. All of this ... baggage; seems like it would call for more than 2 scenes.

The most unfortunate part of this is that The High Tide Club is, at its core, a really great story about extraordinarily strong women, friendships that span a century, and a ripping good murder mystery. It's genuinely lovely; with a lot of heart and, at the same time, a delightfully brilliant mystery. The American South setting is something Andrews excels at, even, apparently, when she's phoning it in, and the characters are all fully realised.

If St. Martin's and Andrews hadn't been so short-sighted as to publish the raw manuscript, instead of a finished, edited work, this might have been one of her best. As it is, I think I'll just re-read Hissy Fit. show less

I wish I could tell you I loved this book, but I didn't, and so I'll do my best to explain why.

The story is told in two timelines that seem to compete more than to complement each other. All four women from 'The High Tide Club' have narrating parts in the past timeline, and their stories meander, providing so much extraneous detail that it distracts from the present. The present timeline is told mostly from Brooke's perspective, and also gets caught up in the tendency to wander outside the point of it all. The result is a story that lacks cohesion and focus.

We have a whole lot of characters, but none of them are particularly well developed or likable. Many feel like stereotypes, and all behave in stereotypical ways.

By the time we get show more to the twists and all is unveiled, I wasn't the least bit surprised. We spend so much time in the past, with so much detail provided, that it's like having neon signs point the way. It's all there if we pay the slightest bit of attention.

The content should have been powerful enough to move me to tears, yet I didn't feel any emotion at all. Part of this, I think, is explained by the lack of character development. The characters seem devoid of reaction and emotion, and so, as a reader, it's impossible to feel more deeply than the characters themselves.

Overall, the story has the feel of a daytime soap opera. In fact, the characters themselves even make that comparison a few times. The major difference is that daytime soaps are all about drama and emotion, while this story has the drama without the emotional investment.

*The publisher provided me with an advance ebook copy, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.* show less

THE HIGH TIDE CLUB by Mary Kay Andrews
Andrews is one of my favorite “women’s lit” authors. Her characters speak and act like real people. Her plots are intricate and satisfying. Her settings are richly described. The tempo is fast enough to keep up interest and yet slow enough for a well-paced read. HIGH TIDE CLUB does not fail!
Murder, illegitimate babies, broken engagements, crotchety old ladies, absent boyfriends, a private island, a mean sexual predator, a vast fortune, a dying heiress and skinny dipping under a full moon -- what more could one want in the ultimate beach read.
This one is fun and will keep you guessing till the last pages, although one of the many mysteries I was able to figure out early on.
5 of 5 stars

The High Tide Club by Mary Kay Andrews is a 2018 St. Martin’s Press publication.

A Southern style beach read-

When ninety-nine- year old Josephine Bettendorf Warrick commissions Brooke Trappnell to gather her old friends from the ‘High Tide Club’ together before she passes away, Brooke is taken aback by her request. Josephine wants to make amends with her old friends and intends to bequeath them her estate on Talisa Island. Brooke is stunned to discover her own grandmother had once been a charter member of Josephine’s club, which could also present a conflict of interest on her part. However, she immediately begins to search for the ladies who will inherit the island, bringing together an eclectic group of women all harboring an show more explosive secret.

Meanwhile, Brooke asks an old colleague to help with the Josephine’s estate, bringing up a few unrequited feelings, while she also struggles to raise her three- year old son on her own.

Once all the ladies are gathered on the island, mostly descendants of the original High Tide Club, Josephine loosens up enough to begin weaving tale of intrigue and mystery directly involving Brooke’s grandmother.

The revelations continue to pile up, one on top of another as more people come forward claiming to be relatives of Josephine, all wanting a piece of the pie. Is it possible for Brooke to determine who the rightful heirs are? Could a long- ago mystery have any bearing on the case?

Believe it or not, this is my first Mary Kay Andrews novel. I’ve been dying to sample her work for a long time and am so glad I finally took the plunge. I see why this author is so popular and will certainly be adding more of her books to my TBR pile.

I love southern fiction and beach reads and find the two often make a terrific combo. I also love old secrets and mysteries, and especially love it when a group of ladies all work in tandem to get something accomplished.

There is a large cast of characters, which usually causes problems for me, but I didn’t have a bit of trouble keeping up with who was who, and never got confused at any time along the way. The pacing is just a tiny bit slow at times, but I never got bored or tempted to skip ahead. There are some reveals I saw coming, while others completely blindsided me.

While the mystery is quite compelling, it is the friendship and bonding of strong female characters, some quirky, some hard to like, some difficult to figure out, but all united in a common cause, that is what makes this story special. The last few chapters, which wrapped up some personal issues Brooke was dealing with was a little bit rushed through, but the epilogue was simply outstanding!
This is my last ‘beach read’ of the summer. I don’t think I could have chosen a better story than this one to close out my summer reading season.

4 stars show less