Monday, October 29, 2012

Review: Dune Road by Jane Green

Dune Road by Jane Green takes place in an affluent bedroom community in Connecticut shortly after the financial crisis of 2008.  Kit Hargrove is recently divorced from her husband, Adam, and has transitioned from her life as pulled together wife of a Wall Street banker to single Mom of two trying to find her identity. With her new job as assistant to author Robert McClure, her outings with girlfriends Charlie and Traci and her neighbor Edie who is like a mother to her, Kit has the building blocks to move into the next phase in her life.

Although Kit initiated the divorce from her husband, she has mixed feelings about leaving her marriage behind.  First and foremost, she worries about the effect of the divorce on her children as they shuttle between Kit's and her ex, Adam's, houses. She also finds herself starting to ask why she left her husband and if she gave up too quickly. She was a Wall Street widow as her husband spent long days in the city and then expected her to host and attend social functions - their marriage had been reduced to taking care of the children and looking good on her husband's arm.  As he comes to pick up and drop off the kids now, though, she feels sparks of the feelings she had for him when they were first together and her life as Wall Street widow seems far away. Charlie and Traci  try to support Kit through this and are excited when she meets a new man  - they think this is just what she needs to move on.

My Thoughts
I am a big fan of Jane Green and have enjoyed all of her books (my review of Another Piece of My Heart and Promises to Keep); this one, however, is my least favorite. There was nothing particularly bad about it . . . but nothing spectacular either. The characters didn't seem to have their usual depth and I felt fairly apathetic towards them. There is a mystery thrown into some of the sub story lines which does keep the book moving but there wasn't quite enough suspense.

Although this books was not my favorite among Green's, other reviewers felt differently. Check out Sarah's review and Swapna's review for a different perspective. 

I am looking forward to Green's upcoming book and hope it lives up to her many books that I have loved and that Dune Road is an anomaly for me.

6 comments:

  1. I've only read one of Green's books - Another Piece of My Heart - but I really enjoyed it. I think I'll try a different title of hers before this one. Thanks for your review!

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  2. Sorry this wasn't a winner for you. Hope the next one is!

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  3. I have enjoyed several books by this author, so I'm thinking I'll give it a try. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Jane Green is an author I've been meaning to read for some time. I'll know not to start with this one, even the premise is intriguing. Thanks!

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  5. It was fun to read the blurb for Jane's upcoming novel. My two favorites were The Beach House (set on Nantucket Island) and swapping Lives (US and UK). Thanks to the link to my Dune Road review. Jane creates such likable characters in relatable situations in a very accesible writing style.

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  6. I've never heard of Jane Green before. That's too bad this one wasn't as great as her others.
    Thanks for stopping by my blog today, stay safe during the storm! It's scary out there. I'm surprised I still have power.

    p.s. you've got a lovely blog!

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