The Book Whisperer Takes a Trip to the Beach

Would you like a trip to the beach, say Surfside Beach, SC? Specifically, you could rent a beach house, Portofino II-317C. Since the pandemic is most likely keeping you at home, pick up A Week at Surfside Beach by Pierce Koslosky, Jr. and spend the time reading about people visiting the beach. A book of short stories, A Week at Surfside Beach encompasses tales of individuals and families who visit Surfside Beach for a week each over a period from May to December.

The stories will take readers directly to the beach, allow them to feel the sand between their toes or thrill to the find of a special shell or shark’s tooth. The characters in the stories are people with whom readers will share heartache, difficulties, memories, happiness, loss, and redemption.

“The Inflatable Dragon” finds John, 81 and widowed, being forced into an assisted living home by his children. John does not believe he is that old so that people should defer to him, opening doors, giving up seats on the bus for him. He says, “Not so fast.” He agrees without enthusiasm to his children’s plans. After all, they tell him that “they could visit ---when they got the time.” Perhaps that last line, “when they got the time,” leads John to stash “$7,000 in cash wadded up in his pocket” and book a flight to Myrtle Beach where he rents a car and drives to the oceanfront house he has booked. He kindly leaves his children a note:”Don’t call us; we’ll call you.” John’s adventure continues once he arrives on the beach.

In the stories, readers discover sullen teenagers, who wish to be left to their own amusements while young children delight in building sandcastles. They also find bickering adults who suddenly find they have larger problems to face than an argument when a child goes missing. The beach rental represents memories to many of the families who return year-after-year. Now, some of the parents are there to spend a week with adult children and grandchildren. Time marches on, but the pattern of families gathering continues.

In a few of the stories, heart-stopping moments make readers fear what will happen next. Will the missing child be found safe? Will Jonathan, 11, in “The Sandbox” regret his nighttime wanderings when he slips out of the house once the adults are soundly sleeping? On the other hand, readers will also feel the struggle to save a stingray which has been beached. In “By the Light of the Silvery Moon,” Alice and Walter, on most likely their last visit to the beachside rental, see a stranded, exhausted stingray and know they must save it by getting it back into the water. Rejoice with them in their success. Then cry the next morning over the surprise ending.

The benefits of reading short stories are many. Readers can dip into the book and start at any point. The beach and the rental property connect the stories, but the people are all unrelated from story to story.

On the back of A Week at Surfside Beach, these words, “a collection of tales with seemingly ordinary, simple, and familiar details—yet underneath their calm, relatable surfaces exist the uncomfortable, extraordinary complexities of life,” aptly describe the stories by Pierce Koslosky, Jr. Learn more about Koslosky in this interview: https://www.winingwife.com/2020/06/05/qa-with-a-week-at-surfside-beach-a.... He also maintains a Web site at this link: https://authorpiercekoslosky.com/.

I received a copy of A Week at Surfside Beach from BookTrib,www.booktrip.com, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Receiving the free book has not influenced my review. The stories will transport readers directly to the beach, but more than that, they will take readers into the hearts of families and individuals.