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    Beach Trip
    Beach Trip
    Beach Trip
    Audiobook17 hours

    Beach Trip

    Written by Cathy Holton

    Narrated by Linda Stephens

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In Cathy Holton's winning novels, the popular author sketches insightful portraits of women even as she displays a rare talent for balancing humor and heartache. Beach Trip finds four middle-aged friends convening at a beautifully appointed beach house-and reexamining their lives. "Break out the tissues, sunblock, and margarita mix as four friends reunite after twenty-three years for a beach party in Holton's feast of Southern friendship."-Publishers Weekly
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateOct 7, 2011
    ISBN9781464004155
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    Reviews for Beach Trip

    3.5/5

    78 ratings15 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Surprising ending to what started out as the usual "four friends reunite after many years" book. Recommended.
    • 1/5
      gave this book 65 pages, didn't like it,didn't finish it.
    • 2/5
      This is definitely a beach read in every way except for the fact that it is over 400 pages long. It is the story of 4 women who were college roommates more than 20 years ago and reunite to spend a week together in one woman's beach home. Everyone of them has had their trial and tribulations in the intervening years--of course--but despite the fact that they are supposedly still close enough that they want to spend a week together, they are not in the least forthcoming in sharing these things with each other. There are too many references to current popular things (music in particular) which begins to make it feel like the writer is working to hard to prove a point. The problem with this is that some of the things she uses to try to set the story in the early 1980's are just not accurate. Just me--I know--I was in college in the late 1970's/early 1980's. There are some surprises toward the end; I'm just not sure that you'll care enough about the ladies to care about the surprises.
    • 3/5
      "Cathy Holton is a dynamic author...great for women connecting again!"
    • 3/5
      A fairly quick read with some good tension among the main characters. A step above the normal "beach" book. The twist at the end is somewhat expected; but, a bit different.
    • 4/5
      If you are female and/or have lived on a college campus, you most likely will relate to the women in Beach Trip - in one way or another. The four women are unique (aren't we all?) and together make up an interesting group. Each individual woman's voice is heard via their background and current life situations as the author takes you back as early as 1981 during their college days to the more recent 2005 trip together to the beach. In addition, when in the year of 2005, there is reminiscing as well.What I liked most was the author's ability to tell four different detailed stories of these women - with some being individualized and some being enmeshed with others. I didn't anticipate them to have as much depth as they turned out to have; however, I didn't anticipate them to be constantly drinking on the trip either. Despite the drinking, it was a good read for exploring friendships of the past and a hope for the future, with a healthy dose of reality thrown in. A reality that began during the most free, yet tumultuous time of their lives - living on their own for the first time. (3.75/5)Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy
    • 3/5
      Good book. I would recommend reading it from the library or if someone gave it to you. The problem with this book is that one would think that it would be a "light" read, but it isnt. There is tension between some of the characters that just stressed me out. Sometimes, tension is good I guess and I have read and liked books with it, but for some reason, this was just a stressful tension in the book. Also, all of the ladies in the book had their own demons that they were dealing with and their own secrets and the author tried to make it somewhat suspenseful, but I knew exactly what each one was hiding from like page 3. I did like the ending, that slight twist was good, but mostly predictable. I did like it and I would read more by this author.
    • 3/5
      This is an easy read, good summertime book. The content is light with periods of moderate heaviness, as each main character reflects on their life choices. Some of the plot is predictable, but there are some good twists. Even if you think you know what is going to happen, it is written in a way that makes you want to keep reading it. This is a good book club book, can read in a few days.
    • 4/5
      "Writing wasn't about telling the truth at all; it was about rearranging truth, stretching it, and warping it to fit some safe and less-chaotic world of the writer's own making. And Mel has been doing that, in one way or another, all her life." (Page 215)Cathy Holton's Beach Trip is Southern women's fiction with a twist. Mel, Annie, Sara, and Lola were college roommates and reunite in this novel two decades later. Like the heavy surf churned up by an offshore hurricane, their relationships are wrought with tension, love, jealousy, and forgiveness. Each chapter shifts between the past and the present--the mid-1980s to the early 2000s."'Twenty years from now,' Annie said, looking thin and melancholy. 'I don't want to be sitting around regretting the past. I don't want to be sitting around thinking about what I should have done.'Mel gave her a heavy look. 'Twenty years from now, none of us will remember any of this.'" (Page 5)Each woman embarks upon their own path and makes her way in the world. Sara, Annie, and Lola each marry and have children, while Mel marries and divorces a few men and concentrates on her career as a novelist. Mel is the independent, strong-willed feminist, while Sara is a follower and tough attorney fighting for the rights of children caught in the middle of parental divorce. Lola is laid back and pushed around by her husband, friends, and mother, and Annie is obsessive compulsive and striving for perfection. Each of these characters juxtaposes the other, and these characteristics weigh heavily on their relationships in college and beyond."'I'm so glad you're here,' Sara said, smiling at Annie. 'We need someone to keep us in line.'Mel swung her arm around her head like she was twirling a lasso. 'Crack that whip,' she said.'Crack it yourself,' Annie said. 'I'm on vacation.'" (Page 25)Holton creates deep characters with simple flaws, placing them in situations of their own making. Readers just have to sit back and watch how they make their way out. The secrets revealed by these women as they reflect on the past are sometimes cliche, but the end of this novel will leave many readers agape. Overall, Beach Trip examines the complicated relationships of women with a flare of wit, humor, and sarcasm.
    • 5/5
      I just love the premise of this story! Four women that were best friends in college decide to enjoy a week long beach vacation together. Wouldn't that just be great to do with some of your closest girlfriends? These women are all in their forties now and even though they have tried to stay in touch for the most part, life seems to have taken them all on different paths. This book alternates very well between the past and the present. You will see little snippets along the way as to why some of these ladies have turned into reserved, nervous, distant, and distrustful people.Since they graduated from college they haven't really gotten together, so Lola decides that it is time and invites them all to stay at her beach house on a little island just off the North Carolina coast for a week. After college Lola married Briggs Fuhrman and really hasn't pursued any personal interests of her own, so she puts all of her love and energy into raising her son Henry. She finds herself not wanting or needing anything at all, but also trying to keep a very demanding and possessive husband at bay.Sara and Mel were best friends since they were young girls as they grew up in the same town together. Sara's family had a rough time of it, where as Mel had lived a very privileged life and really didn't have to work hard for anything. Their relationship is put to the ultimate test when they both fall for the same young man in college. Mel realizes that she doesn't ever want to focus on a relationship, so she flees her one love and her best friends to move to New York after college graduation to start a new and exciting life as a writer. Annie is an interesting character as she is probably considered the mirror of perfection to all of her friends. She was always known for her schedules running like clockwork and her meticulous house cleaning skills. When Annie went to college, she left her high school sweetheart at home, but eventually marries him after her graduation. Annie's secret life from her college days is revealed throughout the novel, and she finds herself needing to pour out her feelings to her friends to come to terms with the mistakes that she made.When the trip started these ladies were very reserved and seemed to be hiding their deepest fears from each other. But by their final evening together they were able to share their secrets and offer the love and support to one another that has been missing for way too long. This was such a great novel that delved into the themes of friendship, love and forgiveness. I think it will make a great beach read as it will probably make you laugh and cry. You may want to call up that friend that you haven't talk to in the last five years just to catch up. This book will make you realize that good friends are worth the heartache and they don't come a dime a dozen.
    • 3/5
      Four young women are assigned as suitemates when they're freshmen at Bedford University, a small Episcopalian women's college in western North Carolina. Even though they come from different backgrounds, the four become fast friends and remain roommates throughout college. The women haven't see each other in over twenty years when Lola calls and invites them to join her at her new beach cottage for a week. The four women are:* Lola, the daughter of a former governor of Alabama - she's led a privileged life but ends up being forced to marry the "right" man instead of the man she loves. She has everything money can buy.* Mel, who is the daughter of a hugely successful car dealer. He's a bully, though, so Mel has issues with love. She's a novelist who's been divorced twice.* Annie, a sweet woman from a happy family. She's in a stable loving marriage, but doesn't know what to do with herself now that her children are grown.* Sara, who struggles, along with her husband, with balancing their needs with the needs of their autistic child. She has a dark secret from her college days that is eating her alive.When the women first get together at the beach house, they're reserved with each other and not all that kind. It's not until their last night together, when they each decide to reveal something about themselves that no one else knows, that they realize how important their friendships are to each other.I found Beach Trip by Cathy Holton to be a pleasant, satisfying read with quite the dramatic ending! This is a great book to take to the beach with you this summer. The story is told in the present day with flashbacks to the characters' childhoods and their days in college. Since it's told in the third person, the transitions are easy to follow. All of the main characters is believable and well written - I saw a little of myself in each one of them. This book serves as an important reminder of the importance of friendships.
    • 4/5
      The ReviewFor the Summer Reading Series hosted by Books on the Brain, I was fortunate enough to get a copy of Beach Trip to lose myself on sandy beaches drinking Margonas with girlfriends. The four main characters of this story are vastly different, however they were brought together as college roommates. Years later, they scheduled a reunion at Lola’s beach house on an island off the coast of North Carolina. There was one prior reunion in England, however only 3 of the ladies attended. This would be the first time in 20 years that all four of them reunited.Mel is the sassy, sexy, wild, and free writer who devours men. Coming to the reunion after two failed marriages, she looks for good times with men wherever she goes. Lola is the quiet, subdued “kept” wife of a rich control freak and daughter of a dominant mother. However, Lola is as nice as they come, generous as the day is long and everybody loves her! Sara is the lawyer turned mom with two children and a solid marriage. She is well rounded and level-headed. Annie is the uptight clean freak who has stifled her inner goddess and sexual being. After being married to her college boyfriend, she often takes him for granted.After the women arrive, they have a week to get caught up on each others’ lives and find their way back to each other. There are a couple of strong plot twists in the story that I shall avoid discussing as these are definite “spoilers,” but let’s just say that it were these plot twists that I enjoyed most about the book.Holton displays a solid writing style and you do establish a connection to the characters. Her writing is greatly descriptive which enables the reader to feel present in the story. She has created enough depth and richness for the readers to enjoy this book as the perfect summer read. The downside for me, however, is that the pace of the book is slower than I like in a novel. I found myself wanting to speed up the pace of the story and not relax on the beach with the ladies anymore. Maybe this book would have been a better read on the sand?On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale:”I am looking forward to the discussion that we are planning on having with this book. I’ve never been part of a “group read” before and this should be a ton of fun! I’m curious to see who the other readers related to the most. The rating that I am going to give this book for genre:Fiction is a 7.5 OUT OF 10.
    • 3/5
      A study of female friendship over the long haul, Beach Trip is a book filled with secrets, lies, love, and friendship above all. Cathy Holton does a great job setting the scene both during the beach trip and during the girl's college years. She creates four very unique characters with strengths and weakness all their own. The pacing of the novel is somewhat slow, especially in the middle of the book, where each woman continues to tell her story in a leisurely way. Each woman's secrets are somewhat predictable, but overall this was an entertaining read that makes you want to call your best friend and invite her over for margaritas.
    • 4/5
      Beach Trip, Cathy Holton’s third novel, brings together four women in their forties for a reunion on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Although best friends at a small Southern college during the 1980’s, all four have taken different paths in their lives – and all four are hiding secrets. Sara is married with two children and struggles with the recent autism diagnosis of her son; Annie, also married with two children, has spent her whole life obsessively cleaning and making the world around her perfect while a decision from her past weighs heavily on her shoulders; Lola finds herself married to a controlling bully and has lost herself in prescription medications; and Mel, a twice divorced novelist covers her loneliness with humor, alcohol and meaningless sex.Holton fully develops each character by weaving the present with the past and moving back and forth between each woman’s point of view. Throughout the novel, there is a sense of mystery and unspoken truths which creates the tension that drives the narrative. By gradually revealing each of her characters, Holton allows the reader time to get to know them. Despite her crassness, I found myself appreciating Mel the most – a character who perhaps is the most damaged, yet faces life head on with a spirit I could admire.Beach Trip falls squarely in the genre of women’s fiction. Holton captures the essence of female friendship – the intimacy laced with conflict, the warmth and self-deprecating humor, and the comradery which develops when faced with crises. It is an enjoyable read with a surprising twist at the end. Holton’s prose is often funny. The reader gets the feeling that Holton cares deeply about each of her characters and their lives.Beach Trip is recommended for readers who enjoy women’s fiction and are looking for a good summertime read.
    • 4/5
      After 23 years of little contact, four former college roommates reunite for a week-long tropical getaway on a small island off the coast of North Carolina. Mel, Lola, Annie and Sara were so much a part of each others lives while attending Bedford University in the early 80's. Mel and Sara's friendship went even further back to their elementary school days. They knew each other the way sisters know sisters. Their home lives were very different but that only deepened their understanding of each other even though they didn't always see eye to eye. Mel was the outgoing one and Sara could see through Mel's shenanigans. Mel came from a very wealthy family with a controlling, bullying father and a mother who was completely intimidated by her husband. Adding to the dysfunction was Mel's older, drug addicted step-brother, Junior. Sara always liked visiting Mel's house to escape the rules that were expected to be followed at her family home. Mel on the other hand, was so infatuated with Sara's family, especially her mother, who Mel was completely enamored with. She loved the order and obvious care that Sara's mom put into everything she did. Annie was always the reliable one. She always did 'the right thing' and she knew what was expected of her. But in her senior year of college, Annie had a secret that she shared with no one. That secret defined her life and it wasn't until this trip that she began to appreciate the choices and life she'd made. Lola was always the dreamer of the group. Being the daughter of the former governor of Alabama, there were certain expectations put on her. Her domineering mother had more of a say as to what Lola's life would become than anyone. Now in their forty's, each of these women have their own reasons for feeling apprehensive about this beach trip. Mel and Sara's friendship had suffered since their sophomore year of college when they met J.T. Radford at a party. Sara was instantly attracted to him, but being the shy one, she watched as Mel swooped in and with her beauty and outgoing personality stole his heart before Sara even had a chance. Sara, more than anyone, knew that Mel would eventually break his heart but she kept her feelings for him buried.Annie didn't know what to expect from this trip, but with her two sons now in college, she was feeling a bit out of sorts and being with the other girls from her college days was bound to bring up old memories and feelings that she has tried to put behind her. Was she ready for this trip? Or would she regret it? Lola was the hostess for this reunion. The beach house they would stay in belonged to her husband, Briggs, her boyfriend from college. The marriage was more of a deal her mother made rather than a union of love and respect. Lola tried once right before college graduation to get out of the marriage, but that met with terrible consequences that Lola was still living with. And one of the other girls had played a big part in it as well. She was still the dreamer, but behind her breezy, little girl manner, was a woman who longed for something she may never have. BEACH TRIP by Cathy Holton is the perfect book for this summer. Reading it made me want to pack a bag, hit the sand and be with my gal pals while drinking fruity, frozen concoctions. The binds of these friendships are flawlessly explored and secrets are revealed in a way that makes you say, I knew it! Cathy Holton doesn't show all her cards at once. She does it beautifully, keeping the curiosity going while telling the stories of each of these unique women. Most of the story takes place in 2005, the year of the reunion, with flashbacks to their college years, revealing important events that shape their lives. Each of the characters has a likable personality and I found them easy to relate to. Sara and Lola were my favorites - Sara for her devotion to her family and Lola for her vulnerability. As someone who lives in the South and loves Southern Fiction, I appreciated Ms. Holton's style of writing. This is her third novel published by Ballantine/Random House Books and I'll be checking out the other two as well. If you'd like to learn more about Cathy and her books, you can visit her website, cathyholton.com. If you'd like to read an excerpt from BEACH TRIP, simply click here. With summer knocking on our doors, kids being out of school and summer activities crowding our schedules, having a book like BEACH TRIP to read is the perfect way to relax and enjoy the season.