Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Review: The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley


About the Book


Genre
Fiction

Format
E-ARC

Publisher
Berkley

Release Date
May 25, 2021

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Sometimes all you need is one person to really see you.

Piper Parrish's life on Frick Island—a tiny, remote town smack in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay—is nearly perfect. Well, aside from one pesky detail: Her darling husband, Tom, is dead. When Tom's crab boat capsized and his body wasn't recovered, Piper, rocked to the core, did a most peculiar thing: carried on as if her husband was not only still alive, but right there beside her, cooking him breakfast, walking him to the docks each morning, meeting him for their standard Friday night dinner date at the One-Eyed Crab. And what were the townspeople to do but go along with their beloved widowed Piper?

Anders Caldwell’s career is not going well. A young ambitious journalist, he’d rather hoped he’d be a national award-winning podcaster by now, rather than writing fluff pieces for a small town newspaper. But when he gets an assignment to travel to the remote Frick Island and cover their boring annual Cake Walk fundraiser, he stumbles upon a much more fascinating tale: an entire town pretending to see and interact with a man who does not actually exist. Determined it’s the career-making story he’s been needing for his podcast, Anders returns to the island to begin covert research and spend more time with the enigmatic Piper—but he has no idea out of all the lives he’s about to upend, it’s his that will change the most.

My Review

Frick Island is very small in Chesapeake Bay.  It has very few residents and everyone knows each other and all their secrets.  

When Piper Parrish’s husband’s boat capsizes and he’s presumed dead, Piper’s life turns upside down  Piper is so devastated that she creates her own alternative life and acts as if her husband is still alive.  She walks around the island with him and talks to him.    Her fellow islanders don’t know what else to do except go along with it. 

When a young journalist named Anders Caldwell is assigned to cover a story about the island’s Cake Walk fundraiser, he discovers Piper’s story.  He’s stunned that the whole town acts like her husband is still alive.  He decides to create a podcast about it and it’s more than a little successful.  In fact, it’s so successful that he fears the islanders will find out about it and it could ruin everything.

This is an intriguing story with very likeable characters.  There’s a bit of mystery and romance mixed together, but mainly it’s a heart wrenching, poignant tale that really touches the heart.  It’s amazing how the entire town stood behind Piper.  I was so torn between understanding their actions and screaming at them to get her some help.  

As I turned each page, everything fit together and I found myself really caring about everyone involved.  It’s the first book I’ve read by this author but it won’t be my last.



For reading challenges:
NetGalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2021

FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

4 comments:

  1. This one is making the rounds, sounds good so I reserved it from my library.

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  2. That sounds really interesting.

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  3. I've been seeing this around recently. Sooo good to know you enjoyed this!

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  4. Sounds like a lovely book. I love the idea that the whole town goes along eith it.

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