Associated Press Published 1:01 p.m. ET April 21, 2020 | Updated 1:01 p.m. ET April 21, 2020
This combination photo of cover images shows, from left, "Hello Summer" by Mary Kay Andrews, "Girls of Summer" by Nancy Thayer, "A Week at the Shore" by Barbara Delinsky, "28 Summers" by Elin Hilderbrand and "Summer Darlings" by Brooke Lea Foster.(Photo: AP)
NEW YORK (AP) Mary Parker is a nurse from St. Louis so caught up in the beach novels of Elin Hilderbrand that she makes an annual trip to Nantucket, the Massachusetts island community where Hilderbrand sets her stories.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Parker isnt sure shell make it to Nantucket this year or even find herself close to a beach. But she will continue to make the journey in her mind, through books by Hilderbrand and others.
We dont have anything that compares to a place like Nantucket where Im from, Parker says. So writers like Elin Hilderbrand are all we have now if those are the kinds of places you dream of being. You just need that escape.
The coronavirus has already shut down most of the countrys bookstores, led to the cancellation of the industrys annual national convention, BookExpo, and driven publishers to postpone many releases to the fall or next year. It now challenges another publishing and cultural tradition beach reads. While beach reads can include any kind of light fiction, many of these romances, thrillers and family dramas are actually set on beaches and summer resorts from Nantucket to the South Carolina coast to Florida.
Government officials in New York and California already have warned that beaches are likely to be closed this summer and travel restricted. Such summer literary institutions as the book festival in Nantucket will be held online instead. And promotional tours for books will likely remain limited to virtual discussions.
Authors and booksellers contend, and hope, that you dont need a beach to read a beach book. Hilderbrand remembers a painful summer growing up when her father had died and the familys traditional summer outing was called off. Instead, she worked at a factory making Halloween costumes.
Autoplay
Show Thumbnails
Show Captions
What I could have used that summer was a book to replace my summer beach vacation, something that would have let me escape, says Hildebrand, whose bestsellers include The Summer of 69 and The Perfect Couple.
Fellow author Mary Alice Monroe says readers tell her something similar about this summer.
Theyre hoping I can take them to a place they cant get to themselves, says Monroe, whose books include The Summer Guests and Beach House for Rent.
Beach reads are as carefully timed as Christmas books, so new novels by Hilderbrand, Monroe, Nancy Thayer and others remain scheduled for May and June. Hildebrands 28 Summers, inspired in part by the film Same Time, Next Year, traces a long-term affair that began in Nantucket in 1993. Monroes On Ocean Boulevard continues her Beach House series set in South Carolina.
In Barbara Delinskys A Week at the Shore, a New Yorker confronts family issues during a visit to the Rhode Island beach house where she spent summers as a child. Nancy Thayers Girls of Summer, like Hilderbrands new book, is set in Nantucket, while Mary Kay Andrews Hello, Summer finds a journalist returning to her home in Silver Bay, Florida, where her family runs local newspapers.
This year, maybe the beach read will be on somebodys back porch or hammock or in the corner of an apartment of wherever theyre sheltering at home, Andrews says. What I hope to do is take them to the beach in their imagination.
Authors already are looking to the summer of 2021 and considering whether their next books will mention the pandemic. Monroe says she is working on a story that will have her characters living through this virus saga, and will brink back the Rutledge family of her Beach House series in the hope that readers will connect with them. Hilderbrand worked in a reference to the virus shortly before completing 28 Summers, and says that while it wont be a major plot point in her upcoming work, she might find it unavoidable to mention.
Other writers expect to avoid it, at least in the short term. Delinsky says she might refer to it in a book in a few years, when theres a better sense of perspective. Brooke Lea Foster has no need to include it. Her upcoming novel, Summer Darlings, takes place on Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts, in the 1960s. Shes currently writing a story set in the Hamptons in the 1950s.
Im sure the books that come out of this moment will be incredible, but I like to go back and escape in time, Foster said.
Autoplay
Show Thumbnails
Show Captions
Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2020/04/21/coronavirus-even-beaches-closed-beach-read-books-still-here/2997018001/
Go here to see the original:
Coronavirus has many beaches closed, but beach reads are still coming this summer - USA TODAY
- Seabean Symposium-Live Blogging - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Alvaro Jaramillo Talks Gulls at 2010 Space Coast Birding Festival - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Fall Sunset on Anna Maria - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Fort Myers Beach Photos Revisited - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Reinier Munguia Keynote at Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Wilderness Matters - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Raptor Project Brings Winged Predators to Space Coast Birding Festival - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Sandscupting Festival on Fort Myers Beach - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- David Allen Sibley to Deliver Keynote at Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival 2010 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Kevin Mims & Paddle Florida on the Suwannee River - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Zipolite Beach, Oaxaca, Mexico, Central America - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Port Charlotte Beach Park, Port Charlotte, Florida - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Kent in South Beach, Miami – Budget Beach Hotel in Florida - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Key West, Florida Dog Beach – Where Pooches Can Play - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Startling White Sand of Hyams Beach, New South Wales, Australia - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Palm Island Beach, Cape Haze, Florida - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- A Surfer’s Paradise at Punta Morena Beach, Cozumel - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Sand the Color of Olives: Papakolea Beach, Hawaii - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa in Destin, Florida - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Visiting Indialantic Beach? Check out the Crowne Plaza Melbourne Beach - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Say Good-bye to Manatee County Public Beach Pier - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Eco-tourism Field Trips at the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Birding at Sea: Pelagic Birding Aboard the Pastime Princess - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival Video Clip - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Gulfster’s Surf Trip to Puerto Rico - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Holiday Candlelight Tour of Homes, St. Petersburg, FL - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Kevin Mims: An Outdoorsman to Follow - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- How Big is This Wave? - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Birders: Making a List and Checking it Forever - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Hunting Island State Park – Dog Friendly Beach in Beaufort, SC - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Beach Hotels in Ocean Park, Washington - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- San Diego, CA – Ocean Beach Dog Beach - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Best Beaches for Collecting Sea Glass - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Swimwear in 2010 combines key trends - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- S-Turns Beach in Rodanthe, Outer Banks of North Carolina, Wiped Out By Nor’easter - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- In Awe at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa, Japan - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Summertime in the Outer Banks, North Carolina - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Panama City Beach May Not Welcome Spring Breakers in 2010 - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Bahia Honda Beach near Key West, Florida - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- U.S. Supreme Court Hears Case Regarding Florida Beach Ownership - December 14th, 2009 [December 14th, 2009]
- Historic Sites of Canaveral National Seashore - December 19th, 2009 [December 19th, 2009]
- Myrtle Beach Building Boardwak Along Beachfront, Adding Amenities - December 19th, 2009 [December 19th, 2009]
- Barrier Island Center Upcoming Events 2010 – Melbourne Beach, Florida - December 19th, 2009 [December 19th, 2009]
- Florida Wildflowers & Plants – Space Coast Birding Festival Field Trip - December 20th, 2009 [December 20th, 2009]
- Jellyfish in Long Beach Aquarium - December 20th, 2009 [December 20th, 2009]
- Heron Island in Great Barrier Reef under new management - December 21st, 2009 [December 21st, 2009]
- Sunset on Longboat Key - December 23rd, 2009 [December 23rd, 2009]
- Pishing With Pete at the Space Coast Birding Festival - December 23rd, 2009 [December 23rd, 2009]
- Summer is Over, but it Lives on My Hard Drive - December 25th, 2009 [December 25th, 2009]
- 800 Pound Beachball to Drop Over Panama City Beach, Florida on New Year’s Eve - December 27th, 2009 [December 27th, 2009]
- Birding by Ear and Habitat with Paddy Cunningham-Pascatore - December 27th, 2009 [December 27th, 2009]
- Prevention of Overfishing of Coral Reefs Reduces Occurrence of Coral Diseases - December 28th, 2009 [December 28th, 2009]
- Florida Screech Owls Encouraged by Nest Boxes - December 28th, 2009 [December 28th, 2009]
- Cayo Costa Photo Memories - December 28th, 2009 [December 28th, 2009]
- Family Activities at the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival - December 31st, 2009 [December 31st, 2009]
- BeachHunter’s Top 10 Beach Photos in 2009 - January 2nd, 2010 [January 2nd, 2010]
- Viera Wetlands is a Premier Birding Destination in Brevard County - January 2nd, 2010 [January 2nd, 2010]
- Here are a Few More Florida Summer Beach Memories. - January 3rd, 2010 [January 3rd, 2010]
- Lake Morat Puts the Beach in Swiss Beaches - January 6th, 2010 [January 6th, 2010]
- Smoking Banned at Beaches Around the Country - January 6th, 2010 [January 6th, 2010]
- Identifying Gulls – A Field Trip to Brevard County Landfill - January 6th, 2010 [January 6th, 2010]
- Victoria and Albert Museum in London Sponsors World Beach Project - January 7th, 2010 [January 7th, 2010]
- Does It Snow in Florida? - January 9th, 2010 [January 9th, 2010]
- Sun, sand and history found in Bodrum, Turkey - January 9th, 2010 [January 9th, 2010]
- Winter swimming rules at Den Haag’s beaches. - January 9th, 2010 [January 9th, 2010]
- Boats, Kayaks and Birds - January 10th, 2010 [January 10th, 2010]
- Snorkeling with Sea Turtles in Akumal, Mexico - January 11th, 2010 [January 11th, 2010]
- A Hidden Gem – San Agustinillo, Oaxaca, Mexico - January 12th, 2010 [January 12th, 2010]
- Penguins on the Beach at Betty’s Bay - January 12th, 2010 [January 12th, 2010]
- Robert Amoruso Photography Workshops at Space Coast Birding Festival - January 12th, 2010 [January 12th, 2010]
- Scuba Diving with Bull Sharks in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico - January 13th, 2010 [January 13th, 2010]
- California Beach Tradition Threatened - January 13th, 2010 [January 13th, 2010]
- Who’s Going to the 13th Annual Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival? - January 15th, 2010 [January 15th, 2010]
- Getting Away From It All in the Dry Tortugas - January 16th, 2010 [January 16th, 2010]
- History of the Bikini - January 19th, 2010 [January 19th, 2010]
- Conservation and the Economics of Birding - January 20th, 2010 [January 20th, 2010]
- Landlocked Swiss Hit the Beach at Lake Zurich - January 21st, 2010 [January 21st, 2010]
- Northern Ireland’s Blue Flag Beaches - January 22nd, 2010 [January 22nd, 2010]
- A beach of sorts in old Dun Laoghaire. - January 22nd, 2010 [January 22nd, 2010]
- Beach Sunrise Memories - January 22nd, 2010 [January 22nd, 2010]