Kayla is getting ready for her 20-year ritual of the annual midnight swim with her two best friends on the island, Antoinette and Val. She understands that they are an unlikely trio – so different in their backgrounds and even their current personalities – but perhaps that is what makes this ritual of going out to their distant point on the island with their champagne and their lobster and their secrets to share so magnetic. She suspects that after the magic, she will likely just return to her routine of worrying that her husband might be cheating on her since she’s put on the pounds of middle age, and that her friends will continue to live the glamorous lives they live. But after Antoinette goes missing during their midnight swim, Kayla’s life – and all of their lives – are anything but routine. Will she ever get back what she has clearly taken for granted?
This is a surprisingly suspenseful novel, told from the perspectives of the various parties involved in Antoinette’s mysterious disappearance – possible drowning – and it holds fast until the very end. While we may find it hard, at first, to find compassion for these characters fortunate enough to live on Nantucket Island where life seems beautiful and luxurious, it is also a small town, with small town competitiveness, petty grievances, and long memories. Nothing happens without everyone knowing about it. There is no anonymity. So while it may be monied, life there comes at a high price.
One issue I have with the story is how it paints women in a stereotypically negative light. The relationships between the three women on the surface appear to be close, but on digging deeper, they are quite catty and competitive. It is utterly adolescent: they cannot possibly be true friends because they are competing for the men, the status, and the “coolness.” Kayla is blindsided by the other two: she is set up, backstabbed by them just because she is the stable and “normal” one. It is high school “mean girls” all over again – but with potentially devastating consequences.
That said, the story is engaging, creative, and does make for an intriguing summer read. Just be sure that if you’re packing it into your beach bag, be sure to swim during the daytime and leave the champagne at home!
kindread spirits 