What’s That Book? Leaving the Beach by Mary Rowen

~ Book Club Mom

Title:  Leaving the Beach

Author:  Mary Rowen

Genre: Fiction

Rating:  4 stars

What’s it about?  The story of Erin Reardon and her search for happiness. Told in the first person and set in the working class town of Winthrop, Massachusetts, readers get to know Erin in alternating time periods—in the 1970s and ‘80s as an awkward teenager and college student, and in the 1990s as a young adult. As a slightly overweight teenager, Erin struggles to fit in, but finds comfort in music, to the point of obsession, as she latches on to a string of rock stars, certain that they are the only ones who understand her: Jim Morrison, Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen and the fictional grunge rocker, Lenny Weir, Erin’s main obsession. But Erin has major problems. Trouble at home and feelings of guilt and inadequacy lead to an eating disorder, alcohol abuse and a series of bad decisions.

Readers will enjoy reliving many classic teen and young adult moments as they relate to rock music, concerts and playing albums over and over. I like how Rowen describes the powerful one-on-one connection that can occur when you listen to music by yourself. Rowen also realistically shows the more painful times of rejection, not fitting in and the lonely moments suffered when everyone else seems to have life figured out.

How did you hear about it?  I saw Leaving the Beach reviewed by a few of my blogging friends and decided to read it myself.

Closing comments:  I thoroughly enjoyed this unique and fast read. Erin Reardon is both typical and remarkable, flawed but likable. Readers need to hold on to hope as she makes mistakes. I didn’t see the author’s truly original finish coming, and that made the book an even better read!

Contributor:  Book Club Mom

P.S. I was pleased to receive a message from Mary Rowen, who asked me to tell readers that, while Leaving the Beach is currently out of print, a newly edited version will be available in the summer of 2019. Learn more about Mary Rowen at MaryRowen.com.

Have you read something good?  Want to talk about it?
Consider being a contributor to What’s That Book.

Email Book Club Mom at bvitelli2009@gmail.com for information.

Thanks for visiting – come back soon!

20 thoughts on “What’s That Book? Leaving the Beach by Mary Rowen”

  2. Thank you so much, Barbara, for reading Leaving the Beach and for your lovely, thoughtful review! I appreciate it so much! I hope it’s OK to add that a newly edited version of the book–which has been out of print for a couple of years now–should be available again in June, 2019.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Reblogged this on Book Club Mom and commented:

    Hi, Happy Tuesday! I’m reblogging yesterday’s post because I have new information. I was so pleased to receive a message from Mary Rowen, author of Leaving the Beach. She wanted to let readers know that, although her book is currently out of print, a newly edited version of the book should be available again in June 2019.

    Learn more about Mary at MaryRowen.com and on Goodreads and Amazon.

    Like

  8. Reblogged this on MaryRowen.com and commented:
    Many, many thanks to book blogger extraordinaire, Book Club Mom, for this generous, thoughtful review of my novel, Leaving the Beach. I highly recommend checking out the Book Club Mom site if you’re looking for something new to read.

    And while we’re on the topic, I’d like to announce that a brand new edition of Leaving the Beach will be published in early summer, 2019. Please stay tuned for more news on that–and more–soon!

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.