6 Emotional Beach Reads to Tug at Your Heartstrings

If you’re looking for a beautifully written and emotionally poignant book to read on the beach, THE SALT HOUSE is one of my favorites. For Hope and Jack, the Salt House was supposed to be the stuff of dreams: a renovated home to raise their young family and run their lobster business on the rugged coast of Maine. A year later, we find them grieving the loss of their youngest child; an unfathomable tragedy for a young couple whose future held such promise. Told in alternating voices, we follow Hope, Jack, and their two daughters as they come to grips with both their individual and family suffering. The sudden arrival of a competing fisherman, whose presence in the brisk Maine waters threatens the future of their business, initiates a series of events that will ultimately heal or break the Kelly clan. Superbly told and evocatively written, this is a hopeful story of the aftermath of profound love and grief and the rebuilding of family and future. This is one of those rare titles where I couldn’t decide which I loved more: the characters or the writing. In THE SALT HOUSE, you get both!

What makes a family? After the demise of her marriage, journalist Amelia Saxton finds herself solo once more and retreating to her coastal North Carolina hometown in search of solace and healing among the close-knit community who knows her best. Once there, her job as a journalist proves a healthy and helpful distraction. During research, Amelia uncovers a story about a batch of embryos that have been deemed abandoned in a local clinic. But it’s a surprise personal connection to this piece of news that leaves her head newly spinning: among these “abandoned” embryos are ones belonging to her childhood friend, Parker, who lost his young wife, Greer, to cancer only a few years earlier. Should she tell him? Still stricken by loss, Parker decides that the only way to keep Greer’s memory truly alive is to find and retrieve the embryos, and find a surrogate. Suddenly Amelia finds herself more personally involved than she’d ever anticipated. As the two childhood friends navigate their own personal losses, they embark on an emotional journey forward as Parker searches for a surrogate with Amelia’s help. Along the way, a few family secrets are brought to the surface. In addition to following Parker’s and Amelia’s hesitant next steps, readers are treated to a sublime trip along North Carolina’s stunning coastline and immersion in the locale’s small-town Southern charm. Told in turn by each character’s distinct perspective, (even Greer, through old journal entries!), readers get a deep look into young love, heartbreaking loss, and what, ultimately, weaves the fabric of family.

Twenty-eight-year-old Marin Bishop appears to have it all: a successful career, a devoted fiancé, and a bright future, all thanks to her years of diligence and commitment. But in one fateful day, she loses all of it. Thinking she’s seen the worst, nothing can prepare her for the results of a DNA test that turn her head sharply in the direction of a coastal Cape Cod town she has never been to. When a woman claiming to be her half-sister enters her life, Marin finds herself agreeing to travel to Provincetown, Massachusetts, so the two can meet their presumed grandmother. But it’s what lies in store in the picturesque coastal village that will truly alter Marin’s sense of self and all the things she thought she wished for. One summer, one Cape Cod town and three generations of women collide to raise new questions and unveil old secrets in an unforgettable story of family, love, and identity. This summer read was both sweet and savory, and the backdrop of historic Provincetown is just a beautiful added bonus.

Journalist Cat Coombs is living it up in London. A young woman with a bright future as a journalist, she finds herself spiraling through darkness when confronted with a family secret. While traveling to Nantucket on a family visit, Cat makes a mistake she cannot forgive herself for. Back in London, in the aftermath, she realizes her hard-partying days are over and it is time to face facts and make some hard choices. But what of the family she left behind in Nantucket? As we follow Cat through single motherhood and into her forties, we also see her turning her head toward the past. Returning to Nantucket may mean reconnecting with those she feels she wronged. But will it also cause her to hurt the one she loves the most? SUMMER SECRETS is a story of forgiveness and moving forward, even when the one we find hardest to forgive is ourselves. I first read this book when it came out in 2015; it’s stayed with me ever since!

We didn’t need it, but here’s further proof that Jen Weiner delivers every time. Told with her signature wit and humor, BIG SUMMER explores the bumpy road of lifelong female friendships and the equally arduous journey of befriending ourselves. Daphne Berg is understandably suspicious when her ex-bestie, Drue Cavanaugh, saunters back into her life after years of estrangement and asks her to be her maid of honor in her upcoming wedding. The two haven’t so much as crossed social media paths in forever! But she cannot help herself; smart, sassy, sophisticated Drue lures Daphne to her luxurious Cape Cod digs with the same kinds of promises she used back in the early unsinged days of their friendship. Only this time, Daphne has tasted her own success and come to love both herself and the life she leads both online and in the real world. Will it all be enough for her to withstand Drue and the pitfalls of their rocky past? A fun, splashy, and honest portrait of women’s friendships and the ways we see ourselves in each other.

Any summer list is incomplete without a signature Elin novel, but though I’ve read and enjoyed them all, THE CASTAWAYS is still one that tugs at my heartstrings hardest. Greg and Tess MacAvoy are the glue of their tight-knit group of Nantucket friends and family; young, beautiful, and deeply in love, the couple are enviously poised for a happily-ever-after life. However, a tragic boating accident ends their young lives, leaving their group of friends and community reeling in the wave of loss, grief, and the truths that surface about the couple’s marriage. All was not as it seemed on the surface. Greg, a beloved high school teacher, found himself entangled in scandalous rumor with a troubled teenage student. Tess, devoted wife and mother, found herself grappling with the crumbling of her marriage and the tales that swirled in their small-island enclave. With two small children left behind, Tess’s and Greg’s friends are left to unravel the truths and make sense of the aftermath. A story of gripping love and the complexities that come with it, THE CASTAWAYS is one that deserves its place on your summer beach blanket even all these years later.

If you enjoy these titles and authors, be sure to check out Hannah McKinnon’s newest summer release, THE DARLINGS, out now!

On a secluded stretch of Cape Cod, a wedding is being planned at a beloved beach house—only for a long kept secret to emerge that hurtles both the wedding and the family off course, in this fresh, lyrical new novel.