| Title | : | Beach House Memories (Beach House, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1439170665 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781439170663 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 385 |
| Publication | : | First published May 1, 2012 |
In 1974, America is changing, but Charleston remains eternally the same. When Lovie married aristocratic, well-connected businessman Stratton Rutledge, she turned over her fortune and fate to his control. But she refused to relinquish one thing: her family’s old seaside cottage. Precious summers with her children on the barrier island are Lovie’s refuge from social expectations and her overbearing husband’s philandering. Here, she is the “Turtle Lady,” tending the loggerhead turtles that lay their eggs in the warm night sand and then slip back into the sea.
Then, in the summer of ‘74, biologist Russell Bennett visits to research the loggerheads. Their shared interest brings them together, and soon it blooms into a passionate, profound love—forcing Lovie to face an agonizing decision. Stratton’s influence is far-reaching, and if she dares to dream beyond a summer affair, she risks losing her reputation, her wealth, even her children.
This emotional tale of a strong woman torn between duty and desire, between tradition and change, is an empowering journey through the seasons of self-discovery. Until this autumn, this time of winds and tides, of holding on and letting go…
Beach House Memories (Beach House, #3) Reviews
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Mary Alice Monroe's follow up to The Beach House takes readers back to Olivia's younger days and gives the heartbreaking romance between Olivia and the true love of her life, Russell Bennett. After getting bits of their tale in the first installment, I had to get the details. Torn between duty and her hearts desire, this journey is very emotional, and at times the despair is palpable.
Love, heartache, loss, friendship, courage, and Olivia's passion to help preserve the loggerhead turtles all make this an absorbing read. -
I have such mixed emotions after reading "Lovie's story!" I loved learning about the Loggerhead Turtle Project! How exciting to witness the miraculous journey of the Mother Loggerhead as well as the babies back to the sea! They have to overcome such adversity and dangers just to survive. It is my sincerest hope that the Loggerhead Turtle Project is still functioning and that many lives are saved as a result. I wish we had Loggerheads on the West Coast. I, too, am a beach girl, having grown up on California 's Central Coast . Many days during my youth were spent running the beaches with my sisters. Such glorious, carefree days! It is, again, quite obvious that Ms. Monroe does her homework! The research that went into writing BEACH HOUSE MEMORIES is immense! I truly enjoy a book written by an author who has become an expert on the subject by research and actual hands-on experience. There is great joy eveident throughout the telling of the tale of the Loggerheads, although, in many ways, the book is actually quite sad. I feel good for Lovie overall, as she took a stand against Stratton and that he abided her wishes when reconciling their marriage. I can relate to her in that we, as women, most often have to give up a part of who we really are when we become someone's wife, someone's Mother, someone's daughter, someone's something or other...our true selves get placed on the back burner for many years and we are often not even aware that this has happened until something or someone, like Russell Bennett, comes along and there is a new dawning within us. I loved this story and already have plans to pass it on to my twin sister who, like me, is a Loggerhead lover! She can't wait to read it.
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Lovie, Olivia, has spent her grown life being the perfect wife, homemaker and best mother she could be. Her husband shows little appreciation for what Lovie does for his family and business as long as she keeps his cultivated professional appearance. Deciding to further his career goals her husband decides to go to Europe and not spend time with his family this summer.
Lovie takes her 2 children to her beach home, the only place she finds solace and can be herself. The people of Isle of Palm know Lovie as the Turtle Lady, she has been keeping track of the nesting turtles for over 10 years…a love she learned from her father.
This year Dr. Russell Bennett, sea turtle specialist, arrives on Isle of Palm to do an impact study on the development of the North end of the island on the nesting turtles. After a rocky start Dr. Bennett is extremely impressed with Lovie’s journals and information she kept on the turtles and it begins a strong friendship and camaraderie. I once again am not going any further because I don’t want to accidently give anything away, so here’s my thoughts on Beach House Memories...
First off, I have to admit I’m a little bias because I already have a passion for Sea Turtle Conservation. I highly recommend that everyone should experience sea turtle at least once! That being said, Mary Alice Monroe wrote this beautifully vivid story of love, loss, growing up, friendship and life that will touch your heart. Her colorful and expressive story of the South Caroline coast makes you feel like your feet are engulfed in the warm sand and the mosquitoes are buzzing in your ears. Although, at times I wanted to throttle the female character's choices, I do realize I’m living 30+ years in the future and the women back then did have different circumstances. Wonderful story telling, heart-felt read and turtles, what else can I say but I loved it.
This copy was given to me by Goodreads First Reads and Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review. -
This was an amazing book; I'm so lucky I won it on Goodreads! Set in South Carolina, Beach House Memories is a wonderful blend of romance, nature, and women's issues. Lovie, the main character, is a young mother of two with a passion for sea turtles. Some of her struggles are unique to the time period such as the expectation that women should stay at home with the children. But the importance of raising children while trying to maintain some sense of individualism remains the same today. I think women will always have different challenges than men simply because the ties to our children are different.
I have only been to South Carolina as a child so I don't remember a lot, but after reading this book I would love to visit. The description of both the beach town and Charleston are so vivid and enticing. As an animal lover it would be a thrill beyond belief to see a mama turtle climb up the beach to lay eggs or see the hatchlings return to the ocean. This book is a must-read and I'll be passing it along to friends and family so they can enjoy it also. I will also be checking out more books by Mary Alice Monroe. -
Spoilers for those who have not read Beach House #1 and Swimming Lessons otherwise known as Beach House #2).
I ultimately felt bored and slightly letdown by the third book in the series. I honestly considered just passing it up since I am not a fan of reading about affairs in romance novels. Between that and how Lovie honestly seemed to ignore her two kids for her "romance" I wasn't feeling the plot at all. And when Monroe showed how and why Lovie ended up staying in her marriage I maybe went bah.
So "Beach House Memories" has a present day setting with Lovie and her daughter Caretta (Cara) who are at the beach house. Lovie knows she has cancer and her days with her daughter are numbered. From there Monroe has her reliving her memories from 1974 when she had an affair with a biologist who was in South Carolina reporting on the turtle nests there.
So for me I found Lovie to be a weak character. We are shown as readers that she realizes her husband is cheating on her. Taking her mother in law's advice to ignore it (who does that?) she eventually realizes she is sick of her husband and her living different lives. She is hoping that their annual summer trip to the beach house that was left to her will bring them closer together.
Readers already know that this is a lost cause based on book #1 in the series. So for me I was just beyond bored to read about things. We get to see how Lovie's mother didn't really care to help her. And we see how the long standing family housekeeper was there to support the children and Lovie. And we get to see the man we have heard about for so long, Stratton Rutledge who seems even meaner and less appealing than possible.
Lovie and her "relationship" with Russell Bennett was boring. I didn't see any chemistry, but read a lot of justification for why she was doing what she was doing. The hypocrisy of the whole thing after she rails at her husband for cheating on her just made me roll my eyes.
Things got worse for me as we get to read about characters we have known and loved who in this younger setting are warning Lovie about the trouble she could be bringing upon herself.
I honestly didn't get why Lovie stayed after an explosive incident. We had heard about things from the other books, but this book was long justification that didn't fit.
Other characters are not developed that well as I said already. We get younger versions of Cara and her brother. And most of the book we don't really get to see Lovie mothering her kids. She gets obsessed with spending time with Russell and that's all she wrote. The house and the beach don't have the same appeal as they did in the first and later books.
The writing was up and down. I thought that Lovie sounded ridiculous at times. This book takes place in 1974 and characters were running around saying how disgusting they found "bra burning" and "women's liberation." Didn't that all happen in the late 1960s through the 1970s? I know that the bra burning incident that most people talk about is the one at the Miss America's Pageant in 1968. For Lovie to act surprised by things that are going on in the U.S. makes me think she had her head in the sand and never read a paper.
The flow was awful. I was happy to get to the end. There were no surprises there though Monroe interjects some magical realism that honestly didn't fit what came before. -
Three and a half stars. I couldn’t help but bring this home from the library as the cover reminded me very much of my favourite beach near where I live in Australia. Plus I like Mary Alice Munroe’s books. This is the third story I have read featuring Lovie Rutledge –The Turtle Lady and I enjoyed finding out exactly what happened to Lovie in 1974.
When visiting biologist Russell Bennett appears on the Isle of Palms, Lovie is prepared to dislike him thinking he does not have the interests of the island and her beloved sea turtles at heart. That changes once she gets to know him more. A difficult marriage with Stratton who expects Lovie to be the perfect Southern wife raising a perfectly behaved and ladylike daughter, and at the same time turn a blind eye to his absences and affairs takes its toll on Lovie. But that is nothing to what happens when she finds herself falling involve with Russell and considering divorce.
I was interested in the way relationships developed in the story though it did remind me a little of Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks. I found the story more interesting when it moved away from feeding me information about the turtles and more onto the relationships. Maybe three books about turtles were too many for this person. Still a very enjoyable story and worth reading. -
~ Third book completed in May #CleanSweepARC Challenge.~
This will not be the first time I've mentioned how much I love the Lowcountry. It will certainly not be the last; it's one of my favorite southern fictional settings. Monroe's love for the Lowcountry is also evident in her stories. This time, she has combined her passion for the beautiful coastal islands and the preservation of loggerhead sea turtles and their hatchlings. Mary Alice tells two stories here really, one of Olivia Rutledge, a woman trying to make a difference in her beloved beach community, who's trying to hold on to her family, love, and memories. Second, and what I found most interesting, a story that revolves around preserving the nests of sea turtles and protecting the defenseless hatchlings from destruction, development, and predators. In the end, Olivia is not much different from the mother sea turtle. Both get their strength from the sea and return year after year to a beach home that's in their blood. As always, Monroe delivers.
E-galley courtesy of xoxoafterdark.com. -
Mary Alice Monroe's descriptions of the life of Lovie Rutledge intertwined with the beloved sea turtles keeps you captivated throughout the entire novel. Lovie was one of my favorite characters in The Beach House. I was very excited that Mrs. Monroe decided to tell her story. Once I started reading, it was very hard to put down.
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My “ go to” author , my summer reading staple, my teacher of all things “turtle”, has disappointed me with this one,the last in her series of Beach House books.
I was so anxious to finish the series; I had inadvertently skipped this one, so it was slightly out of order, even though I was familiar with all the characters.
This book was sluggish, dare ai say boring, at times, and until the end, not very captivating.
I can’t seem to figure out why; it was a love story; love of family and home, love of the sea and the creatures that inhabited it, and love between a man and a woman, who were caught off guard by the swift progression of their feelings, and the conflict those feelings created for them.
No explanation, just concession that out of all of her books, this one will hold the least “memories” for me. -
I loved reading this book this summer, but my opinion might be a little biased - I read it while at the beach in the Carolinas just after visiting Charleston. The beach where we stay is a turtle nesting site, so I loved reading about the main character's passion for sea turtles. I found myself fully wrapped up in the story and having a hard time putting the book down. The love story and dilemma the main character faced really had me thinking about how different women's options were in the 1970's in the low country as compared to now. My heart ached for the decisions she had to make and I really just fell in love with this story. This is the first book I've read by this author and it won't be the last.
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Lovely story bringing the past to the prsent regarding Lovie and her family and life. Poignant love story with factually correct information re loggerhead turtles. If you love the ocean, nature, loggerhead turtles and relationships, you'll enjoy this book.
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A great addition to the Beach House series. I cried through the other books and this one's ending is no different. The emotions run throughout the book and you just want to keep reading, getting lost in the pages.
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I enjoyed the first two books in this series, but I found this one kind of boring. It really only rehashed information that I'd already read.
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An easy read, though not as predictable as I thought, while half way through. It tells a story of a typical southern bred woman, who sacrifices all for her family and family's reputation. She spends every summer at her beach house where she is known as " THE Turtle. Lady". One summer a study of the Loggerhead turtles is conducted as plans for building condos goes underway. The head of this study is a handsome doctor who is impressed with Olivia's years of tracking the turtles and they become partners in leading this research. Though both married, they are drawn to one another. By the end of the summer they both have decisions to make and decide to wait 6 months to decide.
I have very little knowledge of sea turtles but this book made me want to learn more about it. I will probably pick up another book by this author as I really like the way her descriptions make me imagine that I am right there. I can feel the summer heat, the sweat, the sand, the breeze, the ocean... -
This Beach House series is just a delight. I love how she weaves nature into the story and uses it's facts as a metaphor for what is going on in the story. Throughout this series, we get to see all aspects of Loggerhead turtles who nest at the Isle of Palms. It's in each book in this series. This book is so great because we go back in time to an illicit romance that meant so much to Lovie in the mid seventies. It's about Russell Bennett and how he came into her life. He is mentioned in the first book of the series and you wonder about him. Well read this book and wonder no more. The love story does get a bit melodramatic at times, which makes it a little less believable to me. But maybe that's just me. Other than that, I loved this story.
I got to meet the author at my favorite little book shop in Woodstock, GA - FoxTale Book Shoppe. Love that place. Mary Alice is so down to earth and an informed conservationist. She said she researches an animal first then dreams up a story around it. I had read three books in this series when I met her. I asked her what ever happened to "Big Girl" the Loggerhead turtle that is saved in book 2, Swimming Lessons. I asked if she could come back in a later book because don't the turtles keep coming back to nest? Her eyes got really big and she looked off in the distance---thinking. Then she said I never thought of that. She said there will need to be a 5th book in the series, now. She announced to the whole room! Yeh! I hope that happens.
I really like her writing style. She's good with setting, best, and also good with character development. This book and the rest are highly recommended. -
This is book #3 of the Beach house series but I was advised to read it second, after reading The Beach House. I'm a rule follower so this was a difficult decision to make! Soooo many people, even the author, said to read it 2nd, so I did and I'm glad! So far this series is the perfect pandemic read. It's like a Hallmark movie (matter of fact, there actually IS a Hallmark movie of the 1st book). Beach House Memories was written as a prequel to The Beach House and we learn all about Lovie's backstory, her marriage, and her relationship with Russell. It was nice to see Cara and Palmer as children and get further insight into how they became the adults we meet in The Beach House. I'm looking forward to reading Swimming Lessons next (#2 in the series but #3 for me)!
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Beach House Memories is a prequel to the Beach House series. Beach House provides some insight into Lovie's past but the full depth of her emotions and experiences during the mid-seventies are not uncovered until reading this book.
Cara and Palmer are 10 and 13 years old in this story. Lovie's marriage and personal life are uneasy. But all is well at the Beach House. Her passion for sea turtles becomes strengthened and official. The Turtle Ladies volunteer group is expanded. There's passion, love, uncertainty, and tragedy. But all is constant as the sea turtles nest and hatch. -
This is a prequel story about Lovie, the mother of the main character in The Beach House. I'm generally not a fan of books about bad marriages and extra-marital affairs, but if you've read The Beach House then you already know that this story is out there in the ether somewhere anyway. So it was probably inevitable for the author to write it down. Mary Alice Monroe is a good story teller and I will continue to return to the beach house as long as there are books to be read. In fact I've already started Book 4 Beach House for Rent.
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The conservation/ecology history of south carolina/beaches/turtles is interesting and adds to the story. The story of Lovie gets a bit old with the same agony she feels with her terrible marriage and the tragic end to the love of her life. Positively is shows the strength of women
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I liked this book in the Beach House series more than the first and I really enjoyed the first. This is Lovie’s story and it hits the heart wonderfully. Highly recommend this one as it is an amazing love story and tale of what happens when you meet your soul mate, but if it happens too late.
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This is a great series and this book was wonderful. I love all the sea turtle facts that are woven in through the great story,
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Great read! Number two in the Beach House series by Mary Alice Monroe.
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I realized I read this book already once I was in about three chapters. But it’s a great book and finished it again....
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Unfortunately I haven't read the preceding books, but I think this one is fine as a stand-alone. A very real and sometimes sad story - wrong goals and priorities going back generations and causing misery, mixed with unexpected temptations . . . and on it goes. The children are the definite winners here, if there are winners. Beautiful prose and a well-thought out story line.
