SILVER GIRL: GUEST REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

 GIVEAWAY ENDED
SILVER GIRL

BY ELIN HILDERBRAND

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Meredith Martin Delinn just lost everything: her friends, her homes, her social standing - because her husband Freddy cheated rich investors out of billions of dollars.

Desperate and facing homelessness, Meredith receives a call from her old best friend, Constance Flute. Connie's had recent worries of her own, and the two depart for a summer on Nantucket in an attempt to heal. But the island can't offer complete escape, and they're plagued by new and old troubles alike. When Connie's brother Toby - Meredith's high school boyfriend - arrives, Meredith must reconcile the differences between the life she is leading and the life she could have had.

Set against the backdrop of a Nantucket summer, Elin Hilderbrand delivers a suspenseful story of the power of friendship, the pull of love, and the beauty of forgiveness.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, PA, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket, which has been the setting for eight of her previous novels. Hilderbrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa.

GUEST REVIEW:

Guest Reviewer, Carol Wong, chose the video below because of its meaning to the story. After you enjoy listening to it, or before, you will see the connection with SILVER GIRL as you read her review below that. Enjoy!

What first attracted me to Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand was the island of Nantucket. I went there a few years ago to trace my family roots and fell in love with the island. There are few places that can pull you in and make you feel joyous and that it is the place for me. This island has history of sea captains and the creation of business dynasties but there also is an indescribable feeling of happiness.

The second thing that attracted me to this book was the title, Silver Girl, taken from Bridge over Troubles Waters. This is song that is very special to me for personal reasons. Now when I hear it you can count on me to cry.  The second part of the lyrics runs through the book in just the right places.

The story has at its core two women who had been friends as long as they could remember but several things had torn them apart. When we meet them, Meredith Delin had just experienced the shock of her life.  Her husband Freddy Delin has just had his name splashed over all the news shows and newspapers for being under investigation for running a Ponzi scheme like Bernie Madoff.  He had cheated so many investors out of their life savings. Meredith is at her penthouse apartment trying to grab a few things before she vacates the apartment. She fills a duffel bag with some of her clothes, her sunglasses, some photos, some documents and Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Waters. 

Meredith meets Connie at a store in a bad neighborhood to ask her if she can stay with her a while. They hadn’t talked to each other for so long. Connie Flute reluctantly agrees. They head to Nantucket. Connie’s husband had died of cancer a couple of years ago and the grief was still so strong, she still couldn’t sleep in their bed in the master bedroom. Her daughter had taken off in the car that she inherited from her father shortly after the funeral. Connie was torn, would they be able to fix their broken relationship? Or would taking Meredith to Nantucket be a huge mistake.

Did this book live up to my expectations? I think for the most part it did. Elin Hilderbrand creates a story that shows the unrelenting pain and shame of having a crooked husband and father.  She cuts into the core of troubled relationships, parental love and the sorrow of separation.

Nantucket was portrayed as I remembered it and to my delight, I learned a little more about the island’s history. You can taste the salt in the air and hear the soothing surf coming on the beaches.  Now, of course, I yearn to go back.

As for Bridge Over Troubled Waters, the lyrics and chords seem to flow through the book. This is something more than a beach read. The lyrics appear in just the right places in the book and add even more meaning to the story.

The only thing that irritated me some about this book was that there were no chapters. Instead, there are some divisions that change from  Meredith’s story to Connie’s and back. This upset me because chapters often provide places where you can lay the book down and think and feel more about what you have read. I missed those little opportunities for contemplation. Overall, I would recommend this book wholeheartedly.

---Review by Carol Wong 

ABOUT MY GUEST REVIEWER:

Carol Wong is retired, an avid reader, and lives in the Dallas area with her husband and two cockatiels. She has a son currently working in Chengdu, China. Carol says, "When I read a book, I write down notes when something strikes me or a question that comes up. Later, I usually don't look at the notebook; the act of writing seems to put it in my head."  

I am so lucky that Carol agreed to help me out every once in a while by doing a Guest Review. It is a huge help to me and allows me to have readers see books from another viewpoint other than just mine all the time. I hope you were able to read Carol's Guest Reviews of DREAMS OF JOY,  FAITH and PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOM. If not, take time to do it...you won't be sorry AND you will be able to read more about Carol there! BIG THANKS to Carol!

 

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO ANNA AND MY FRIENDS AT 

HACHETTE BOOK GROUP, I HAVE

TWO COPIES OF THIS ELIN HILDERBRAND

BOOK TO GIVE AWAY TO MY READERS

 
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COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!
**NOTE FROM PUBLISHER: Winners will be subject to the one copy per household rule, which means that if you win the same title in two or more contests, you will receive only one copy of the title in the mail so more people get a chance to win.

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU READ ABOVE ABOUT SILVER GIRL  THAT MADE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK, AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

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GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, JUNE 30!