Barefoot: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Book
List Price: $13.99
Buy Used: $2.81
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Rating:  46 reviews
Sales Rank: 2965
Media: Paperback
Pages: 432
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.3
ISBN: 0316018597
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780316018593
ASIN: 0316018597
Publication Date: June 9, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Front cover is creased. A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (including dust jacket if applicable). The spine may show signs of wear; pages can include limited notes and highlighting. Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to changing lives through the power of work. The organization offers a wide range of employment and training programs free of charge to assist those with disabilities and other barriers to employment.
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 41 more reviews...
 They get better and better June 29, 2007
E Anderson (Pennsylvania)
29 out of 30 found this review helpful
After reading The Love Season, I was a little worried about a new book by Hildebrand, but this book blew me away. The story is about 3 women spending the summer together in Nantucket (of course) together to get through some very rough times. The main character, Vicki, has just been diagnosed with lung cancer - it is her idea to spend the summer at her beach house with her two very young children and her sister, Brenda, and best friend, Melanie.
Brenda and Melanie have problems of their own to settle over the summer. Brenda was just fired for dating a student at the college she taught at and sued for throwing a book into a painting. Melanie just found out she was pregnant after months of trying with the husband who has been cheating on her. The girls are all saved by a young college boy home for the summer who baby-sits Vicki's kids and brings normalcy and solace to the women.
If you've ever lost someone to cancer or have cared for someone going through chemo, this is a very emotional and sensitive book to read, it's so dead-on to what you feel and go through when you're involved in something like that.
It was just such a good book, and I would recommend it to anyone.
Book of friendship June 15, 2007
Reader Views (Austin, Texas)
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (6/07)
Josh Flynn, a creative writing student, immediately noticed the three women and two small children as they embarked from the airplane. Perhaps the twenty-two-year old smelled a good story. He knew his dad would be watching, so he was subtle as he sniffed out the stories. He was training himself to be observant. Two of the women looked like they could be sisters. One sister looked sad as though she was about to cry. The other looked unhappy, maybe angry. The three women together looked miserable.
Brenda had agreed to come to Nantucket to help her sister Vickie, who had been diagnosis with cancer. Vicki had invited her friend Melanie. Melanie found out that her husband was having an affair just as she discovered she was pregnant. She left without telling her husband where she was going. Brenda had her own set of problems. She was no longer employed or employable. She had had an affair with one of her students. It did not matter that the handsome Australian was a year older than she, at thirty-one, and that they really cared for each other.
Josh soon becomes the babysitter. They need him as much as he needs them. He encourages, assists and challenges the three women.
"Barefoot" by Elin Hilderbrand will be the hit of the summer. Hilderbrand has written the perfect woman's book. Three women, all with their own set of problems, escaping to Nantucket, add in a sexy college student who offers more than babysitting services, and you have the formula for a bestseller. This is not an action-packed thriller; the plot flows along smoothly, drawing readers in like a slow-moving river. The characters are well-developed. Vicki is the most likable and draws the most sympathy. Melanie likes to complain, a lot! Brenda shows signs of possessiveness and jealousy. All show attributes of three "normal" women. The cover is delightful. The legs of three women standing together on a beach with their jeans rolled up and no shoes, as they gaze at the ocean -- three women comfortable with each other, learning to bond together in friendship and need. I highly recommend this one to women!
Elin Hilderbrand's best yet July 16, 2007
Deborah Bennett (Nantucket, MA)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
Barefoot is by far Elin Hilderbrand's best book yet! It moves quickly and is a fantastic summer read. and like her other books, the characters, their dilemmas and flaws stick with you and I find myself continually thinking aobut the summer that the three women experienced like I had heard about it all first hand. The predicaments are real and the women are people you know and it was just great! Definitely pick it up - I loved it!
Very Touching Story! October 25, 2007
kelthebookworm
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed this book. The characters were all very likeable and easy to relate to. Nice book for the beach!!
Fresh and breezy. September 15, 2008
Jewel Leydecker (Champ)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Elin Hilderbrand has written a novel of life that still endures even when faced with adversities. Vicki is afflicted with lung cancer but manages to find strength in her love for her two young sons. Her sister Brenda places her future at stake when she succumbs to a night of passion. The two sisters, accompanied by their friend Melanie set off for a summer of forgetful nights in an Nantucket cottage. This truly a book about bonds forming when faced with adverse situations. And though each woman has her own demons to exercise, all three share the same path and walk the road of a new life barefooted. The tale is heart warming and breezy while the three women along with a few side characters manage to navigate their travesties and form lasting relationships that permeate even the darkest times.
Editor of the highly recommended novel: Fates by Georgiou Tino
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