Barefoot

By Elin Hilderbrand

Subjects: Cancer in women, Fiction, coming of age, Fiction, women, Summer, Adultery, nyt:trade-fiction-paperback=2008-06-29, Friendship, fiction, New York Times bestseller, Romance, Female friendship, Fiction, May-December romances, Nantucket island (mass.), fiction, Life change events, Vacations, Escape (Psychology)

Description: It's summer on Nantucket, and as the season begins, threewomen arrive at the local airport, observed by Josh, a localboy, home from college. Burdened with small children,unwieldy straw hats, and some obvious emotional issues,the women--two sisters and one friend--make their way tothe sisters' tiny cottage, inherited from an aunt. They're alltrying to escape from something: Melanie, after seven failedin-vitro attempts, discovered her husband's infidelity andthen her own pregnancy; Brenda embarked on a passionateaffair with an older student that got her fired from herprestigious job as a professor in New York; and her sisterVickie, mother to two small boys, has been diagnosed withcancer. Soon Josh is part of the chaotic household, actingas babysitter, confidant, and, eventually, somethingmore, while the women confront their pasts and map outtheir futures.