Reckonings and reconciliations are had. Read "The Jetsetters A 2020 REESE WITHERSPOON HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB PICK" by Amanda Eyre Ward available from Rakuten Kobo. I wish Ward had not employed the tricks of lesser novelists, such as contrived cliffhangers and misdirection in order to engender suspense. Because the Perkins family is representative of the current American moment, showing how a childhood shaped by a neglectful bully can lead to an adulthood full of lies. S A D. So sad. And as the book develops, these secrets develop as each character’s life story becomes more apparent to the reader. This post contains spoilers. Cord is a recovering alcoholic with a loving fiancé, which should be peachy except he’s afraid to tell his mother that he’s gay. Everything you need to know: book description, quotes from the book, about the author and much more. Also, the story itself is very creative and ever-changing as each character is going through a life-changing Awakening on this seemingly innocent cruise. Yet there is still a certain pleasure in a story straightforwardly told, in alternating chapters, including each main character’s point of view. In the vein of THE NEST and THE VACATIONERS, THE JETSETTERS is a delicious and intelligent novel about the courage it takes to reveal our true selves, the pleasures and perils of family, and how we navigate the seas of adulthood. I wish Ward had not employed the tricks of lesser novelists, such as contrived cliffhangers and misdirection in order to engender suspense. Like the Picasso allusion, the Shakespearean nod feels like a name-drop without a purpose. Despite the desire to be free. This is pretty strong character development if you ask me, especially since these awakenings are each very powerful, difficult things to do. Two out of three of those are correct. The review must be at least 50 characters long. When she wins the contest, the family packs their baggage—both literal and figurative—and spends ten days traveling from sun-drenched Athens through glorious Rome to tapas-laden Barcelona on an over-the-top cruise ship, the Splendido Marveloso. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine Book Pick • Named One of the Best Beach Reads of 2020 by Parade, O: The Oprah Magazine, and Good Housekeeping “The exuberant activity aboard the Splendido Marveloso is no match for the fireworks set off as the lies explode. END OF SPOILER. The memory of her father’s blue face. The trouble with four perspectives is that you long for at least one character who has an interesting mind. Beneath the surface, though, there is real darkness. Charlotte and her rich fruit aside, each of her children is in a convenient state of crisis. A lonely 71-year-old widow wins a trip to Europe and takes her three grown children in an attempt to reconnect with them. I mean right off the bat we’re introduced to four different narratives between this dysfunctional family: Charlotte (the mother), Cord (son), Lee (oldest daughter), and Reagan (youngest daughter). Each character’s dysfunctions run deep, and each plot twist threatens to sink their sanity, resulting in a funny, moving tale of the complications of familial love. ( Log Out / “When seventy-year-old Charlotte Perkins submits a sexy essay to the Become a Jetsetter contest, she dreams of reuniting her estranged children: Lee, an almost-famous actress; Cord, a handsome Manhattan venture capitalist who can’t seem to find a partner; and Regan, a harried mother who took it all wrong when Charlotte bought her a Weight Watchers gift certificate for her birthday. The Very Hairy Chest Contest, the towel-animal lessons, the marzipan piano: All the marvels are splendido.