Barefoot: A Novel

A friend lent me this book. Her husband saw Hilderbrand on my iBooks suggestions. He mistakenly thought I knew/liked the author. So it goes. Anyway, I gave up after 50 pages of exposition-heavy narration. A good deal of this exposition was the main characters apparently trying to justify their generally entitled outlook on life. I wish someone would explain to me how exactly "Vicki's disdain of doctors and hospitals was legendary." Ugh. Not for me.

It is an Elin Hilderbrand book. This time out 3 women with issues
A 31 year old woman (Vicky) diagnosed with lung cancer and who has two children under 5.
Her younger sister, a professor who has been fired.
Vickie’s best friend who has a cheating husband and she is pregnant.
What will cure their ills. A summer is Nantucket of course. Oh and the local hot 22 year old male babysitter.
I love her books.

Vicki has been diagnosed with lung cancer, so she decides to spend the summer on Nantucket with her sister, Brenda, and their friend, Melanie. Vicki also brings her 2 young children, leaving her husband back in NYC. Brenda was fired from her university teaching job after having an affair with her student, and Melanie is pregnant with her first child. She hasn't yet told her husband, Peter, because he has been having an affair with a work colleague. When they get off the airplane, they meet Josh Flynn, and he feels drawn to the women. He ends up babysitting for them to give Vicki some needed rest and becomes intimately involved in their lives.
The story follows the women as they navigate their messy love lives, the health concerns, and being there for each other. It was enjoyable.

Three women and two kids land at the Nantucket airport, Josh who is working at the airport sees that they all look miserable. Little does he know that he will be involved with these people and will become his main focus that summer.

Interesting story and plot lines. First time I have read anything by Elin Hilderbrand, definetly will not be the last.

While I thought this would be a light read, it had some difficult topics that afflicted each of the women characters. They each arrived to Nantucket for the summer with individual problems and over the course of the time there, they all come to a resolution. It was an easy read but the characters were hard to like initially and some of the circumstances were not 100% believable. I did enjoy the story and their interactions with people that helped them work towards a future.

After reading some pretty depressing stuff this past month, I was in need of something light and this is - literally - a beach read. But seriously? Who are these women? Certainly, I hope not role models.

First there is Vicki, a privileged wife living in Darien, Connecticut with two small boys. She's been diagnosed with lung cancer and is about to undergo chemotherapy. And where better to do that than in Nantucket at the "cottage hospital" where - guess what? Not only is there a wonderful oncologist in residence but also a wonderful thoracic surgeon. Who knew?

Then we have Vicki's sister Brenda who in her first college teaching job decides to flaunt the college's #1 rule against having relations with students and has a mad affair with an older student in her class. But who could blame her because the moment she sees this hunk and hears his Australian accent, she just can't think straight. Of course they get caught, she gets fired in an a fit of pique throws a book and damages the college's prized Jackson Pollock painting. It's all just SO UNFAIR! So what to do? Well accompany her sister to Nantucket where they get to stay in the summer cottage they both have conveniently inherited from a maiden aunt, and write a screen play that will miraculously change all her misfortunes.

Rounding out the trip is Melanie who has been trying to have a baby and whining about everything while she's trying. She discovers that she's pregnant simultaneously with discovering her husband is having an affair (probably because of her non-stop complaints). She mostly sniffles, gets sick at just about everything and ogles the hunky college student that Vicki hires to look after her children. And then, because no one in this book has any self restraint, she and the babysitter have a mad affair.

And oh yes, there is a 'bad girl" - Josh the babysitter's ex-girlfriend. She's poor and irresponsible and very upset when she finds out about Josh and Melanie, but don't worry. The author conveniently kills her off before she can do serious damage to what are supposed to be the important characters.

The three protagonists are privileged, selfish and unaware of anyone other than themselves. Why am I supposed to find them sympathetic? I see this author's books everywhere and they all seem to be a variation on this beach theme. But one book by Elin Hildebrand is more than enough for me.

I picked this book up at a resort I was at and it looked interesting. The characters were not very likeable during most of the book, but you can see them change during the book. This is the first book I have read by this author and I will read others. It is a story that rings true and you can really identify with the characters. This story deals with cancer, loss of job, loss of parent, lonliness etc. so it is not an uplifting story, but I did enjoy it.

I enjoyed Barefoot, although it wasn't the light, beach read I expected. It's the story of three women in their early to mid thirties who travel to Nantucket to escape from their problems. These problems capture a wide range of middle age issues: career, money, marriage, motherhood, health, and, of course, their relationships with each other. The women are often self-centered, which is understandable given the seriousness of the issues they face. They do, however, support each other when they are needed.

Vickie and Brenda are sisters, while Melanie is a friend of Vickie's, invited to the summer cottage to distract her from thoughts of her husband's infidelity. For this reason, Melanie is not as close to either of the other women and even makes an attempt to leave the island.

I liked the way the character flaws of the women made them seem real. But Josh was different. He was the only major male character, a college sophomore who took a summer job babysitting for Vickie's two sons. His relationships with all three women and with Vickie's two sons grow as the summer goes on. He is reliable, caring, and always thoughtful, regardless of his role as a caretaker, an employee, a friend, or a summer fling. Yet, he seems unrealistically mature in his relationships, especially with the boys. This is compounded by the personality of his high school girl friend, who keeps showing up at odd times. The Josh we get to know would never have stayed with Dee Dee for any length of time.

Still, the women are wonderfully complex and interesting. This was the first Elin Hilderbrand novel I've read and I intend to read more.

Steve Lindahl – author of Motherless Soul, White Horse Regressions, Hopatcong Vision Quest, and Under a Warped Cross

Elin Hilderbrand's "Barefoot" is a remarkable story of a group of ladies who struggle to solve their problems and find themselves while on vacation in 'Sconset. Vicki with cancer and two sons; her sister, Brenda, involved with an older student; and her friend, Melanie's marital and potential pregnancy all intertwine in dramatic fashion. Add a young college boy who seems to make everything right in the world and you have an amazing story. Not too much drama or romance. This story is expertly crafted and has propelling dialogue.

Kind of a fluffy chick-lit kind of read, but I enjoyed it. The characters are easy to related to and likable.

A feel good read with a happy ending. Not very thought provoking at all. The whole story could have been told in less then a hundred pages.

was a good book to sit down and read

I really wanted to like this author and this book.It has been on my TBR for awhile. I found the first 100 pages ok.Some areas held my attention and others I just kept skimming thru. I did not care abt the characters.Whiney sisters. One sister (although ill) feels everyone should care for her kids, one that is independent and single but judged as selfish.Not really,she just knew what she wanted. The sisters arguing. The guest felt unwanted by those that invited her. I don't know when the story was supposed to get better. At least my TBR will be lighter now, I am removing this author from my TBR.I give it 1 star for a beach setting.

Three women, Brenda, Vickie (sisters) & Melanie (Vickie's friend) have run away from their lives (they all have a secret) and are spending the summer in Nantucket in a bungalow left to the sisters by their Aunt Liv.

I'm giving this a 2.5 rating due to the fact that although this was a good story and I did stay up most of the night reading it....there were too many places of "T.M.I." and the "secrets" kept being rehashed & rehashed...after a while I just didn't care....I wanted to get on with what was currently happening to them and the conclusion.

The book definitely reminded me of Jennifer Weiner's "Fly Away Home".

This book is one of those stories that you devour in just a few days. The story is compelling and you can't put it down. But, in hindsight, now that it's been a few months since I read the book, I feel that there was something lacking in the characters or the story to make it memorable, or even feel that there was some lesson that I want to save for later. Still, easy to recommend it as a beach read and a perfect accompaniment for a vacation on the Cape.

Slow moving novel; perhaps good for summer reading. The book is set in Nantucket where three women, each dealing with a life crisis (cancer, adulterous husband, career catastrophe) come to get away from the problems in their lives and there meet a boy. There is the requisite affair, the reconciliation, the cure. All ends more or less happily.

I just couldn't find myself caring about any of the characters in this novel very much. The main characters are two sisters and the best friend of one of the sisters. One of the sisters, Brenda, just made me cringe every time she appeared on the page. I especially didn't like the way her plot line went in the end. The other sister, Vicki, was just about too good for words, so I struggled with that too. And the best friend? She really bothered me for many reasons. Still, I stuck with the book because I wanted to know what would happen in the end. It turned out not to be quite as predictable as I had expected.

Great summer read - have read all Elin's books! Three women arrive at the local airport, observed by Josh, a Nantucket native home from college for the summer. Burdened with small children, unwieldy straw hats, and some obvious emotional issues, the women--two sisters and one friend--make their way to the sisters' tiny cottage, inherited from an aunt. They're all trying to escape from something: Melanie, after seven failed in-vitro attempts, learned her husband was having an affair, and then discovered she's pregnant; Brenda embarked on a passionate affair with an older student that got her fired from her prestigious job as a professor in New York; and her sister Vicki, mother to two small boys, has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Soon Josh is part of the chaotic household, acting as babysitter, confidant, and, eventually, lover.

Ahh! Okay great summer read but the end and many of the parts in the book dealing with Vicki and her Cancer were a little too real for me. I mean, Elin Hilderbrand definitely captured what it's like to go through chemo and finding out you have Cancer etc. but it was tough for me as just one year ago my mama had a bilateral mastectomy for Breast Cancer and we just went through all of these same battles as Vicki does in the book. Strong characters and a complex but lovely storyline. Love Elin Hilderbrand's summer novels and cannot wait to travel to Nantucket some day.

I actually enjoyed the book even though parts of it were rather implausible. It is a book intended for women for summer reading I believe.

Melanie, Brenda and Vicki are three sisters heading to their beach cottage for a Summer. Melanie has been trying to get pregnant with her husband for years with no luck. She finds out her husband has been having an affair in which he does not want to get out of at the same time she finds out she is pregnant finally. Brenda has been fired from her teaching job after she was caught dating her student. A student who was her age yet it was considered unethical and now she has no career to fall back on. Vicki has been a list maker who has two children. She has a perfect list and perfect newborn when she finds out she has cancer. They all have issues and many secrets kept from one another. This book is like a soap opera in pages. The characters are pretty developed and the plot is rather enjoyable. I will say it was a tad long considering the storyline was not to packed with actions. Minimal twists and turn yet pretty interesting read.

a woman coping with cancer goes to her family's charming little beach cottage in nantucket with her children, her sister and her best friend!!! all the characters come to realize that "love is all that matters" loving this author's books! perfect for a beach read!

A delicious taste of summer wrapped up in some interesting twists. Not the most intellectually stimulating book, but it certainly was fun.

My first time reading a book by this author and I am impressed. Really enjoyed the story about 3 women spending their summer in Nantucket. It was at times sad, happy, and heartwarming. Vicki's journey with cancer was told really well. A cancer survivor myself I really related to Vicki and I could tell the author did thorough research on this topic. An engaging, easy read that had me wishing I was there on the beach with them. I have never been to Nantucket, but after reading this book I definitely want to visit there.

I wish time would have permitted me to read this a little faster as it held my interest. 3 woman go off to Nantucket for the summer. 1 has cancer, 1 just recently fired due inappropriate behavior and involved in a lawsuit and 1 who just found out she was pregnant and just recently found out her husband has been cheating on her. Each individual woman with their own issues going on vacation to help each other out. Along with 2 small children. What an interesting adventure these women go through in one summer at nantucket living together. Great story and background.

first nook book!

I think this was a good one to start my nook with. I liked it. It kept me interested, but it wasn't great. I'm glad I got it from the library.

I felt the characters were a bit too self-focused and even though by the end things evened out, it still felt a bit much.

Summer in Nantucket? Maybe you wouldn't want to have all the adult angst that follows these three women, but like all good beach reads, it works out in the end and it's fun getting there. Not a memorable book but enjoyable.

I got this book in the mail a few weeks ago as part of the Library Thing Santa Thing. This is my Secret Santa's favourite book and I have to say that while I really enjoyed reading this novel the characters sometimes really got on my nerves. Melanie, who is pregnant with her cheating husband's baby, spent most of the time wallowing in her pity and completely ignoring the fact that her best friend has lung cancer. I mean come on get out of your head for minute. I realize that finding out you're pregnant right after finding out your husband is a huge douche is pretty bad there are still some things to be thankful for. She also starts having an affair with someone who is 15 years younger than her while still being pregnant. I just wanted to yell at her. Vicki on the other hand is the sister who has 2 children and lung cancer. She decides to skip one of her chemo treatments and at the time I felt frustrated with her but I could see how that may happen. I've never undergone chemo but I'm sure you are downer than down. It would drain every ounce of energy from you and I can fully sympathize with not wanted to go to every chemo treatment. I did feel bad for the other sister, Brenda who had an affair with one of her college students who just happens to be one year older than her. She got fired for this affair and is in some legal trouble due to her temper. While she should have waited until her student wasn't her student anymore I do not feel that she deserved to be fired for this offence. As I said before I really enjoyed reading this novel. Hilderbrand writes really well and draws you into the story. You want to know more and more about the characters and what happens in the end. While some of the characters annoyed me I think that may have made me enjoy the book. It made me want to see how these characters would change over the course of the story. Overall I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5.

This was my first experience with Elin Hilderbrand. Many people had suggested her books and when I came across a hardcover of Barefoot at a used book sale for four dollars and figured I'd give her a shot.The cover sucked me in. It looked perfect for a summer beach read. I liked the concept: three different women dealing with three different problems, spending a summer together on Nantucket.I fell out of my reading groove this summer so I actually didn't get to this book until almost fall (I finished it over Labor Day weekend). The story was very well written, the characters developed nicely (all of them, not just the main players) and the book flowed well - it wasn't choppy and the author didn't bounce around from storyline to storyline. Each character's story blended seamlessly into the story of the next character.There were a lot of different personality types: Vicki and Brenda I could relate to very well, Melanie I just wanted to slap. What I liked best was that everything wasn't wrapped up with a neat little bow at the end. It was much more true to life than the proverbial "happy ending."Overall, I enjoyed Barefoot and Elin Hilderbrand. I'm looking forward to reading more of her stories.

I'm never really sure about what qualifies as "Chick Lit". Is it just books about mainly women or is it women empowerment novels? Either way I guess on the whole I'm not attracted to stories just because they're deemed "Chick Lit" but then again, I'm not totally turned off by them either.

That being said I'm not sure whether or not "Barefoot' would be fall in the category but it was a girly kind of book. The story of three women and their summer in Nantucket. Two sisters and one of the sisters friend come to hide and heal in the families summer cottage. One sister is fighting cancer, the other sister is hiding from a scandal that cost her her job and reputation at the college where she taught, and the friend has found out after seven tries she's finally pregnant just as she also finds out about her husbands affair. So, yeah, I guess this is "Chick Lit".

I've never read any of Elin Hilderbrand other books but I believe she is quite popular. I got this one for $1.99 on my Nook so I thought what the heck. It was not a great read. I thought she dealt with the character's cancer fairly well but the rest left me kind of flat. None of the characters jumped out at me and made me really care about them. Well, that's not true - the twenty-something guy they hired to be their babysitter - his story line was interesting but not enough to carry the book.

If my reading list wasn't so long I might try another of Hilderbrand's novels from the library but for right now I'll have to leave her to her fans. Maybe next year.