The Lonely Hearts Beach Club by Amy Miller - Contemporary Literature A year ago Hattie lost her husband Jesse when he swam out to save a struggling surfer. Since then she hasn't been able to pick herself up and just wants to be alone. Her daughter Olivia has done her best to keep her mother company and whilst keeping treasured memories of Jesse alive, feels her mother should look after herself a little more. As Hattie and Jesse's business was renting out deckchairs, Olivia placed an ad in the local beach cafe for someone to rent out one deckchair to talk to her mother for an hour. What transpires is a viral post and Hattie looks likely to withdraw even further. Whilst looking after her mother and daughter Beau, Olivia has been neglecting herself whilst keeping a secret she hopes will never be revealed or meet the man who was a part of it. A part of her life she would rather forget due to the trauma it caused her.
I loved this. There’s a couple of plot lines- Olivia’s back story of her daughter Beau’s father and the deckchair with her mother and the bereavement. It's cleverly thought out and well plotted with drama to keep the pages turning. I liked Olivia and having met an Oscar type character really felt for her. There are wise words amongst the pages such as “ you can't control what happens, but you can control how you react to it”- something that struck me as we can be prisoner to our own thoughts if we let them. An uplifting read of perhaps carpe diem. We have one life and seizing the day I believe is a good motto to live by. A treasure of a read and one that left me with a smile.
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Hattie gazes at her husband’s empty green-and-white-striped deckchair, the fabric blowing in the breeze. Blinking away tears, she clutches her own chair’s wooden frame with trembling hands. ‘What will I do without him?’
Olivia’s heart breaks watching her mother Hattie withdraw after her husband’s sudden death. Without him, she’s never been lonelier. Every morning, Hattie places a pair of tired old deckchairs looking out to sea. Staring at the empty chair beside Hattie, Olivia comes up with a plan: One deckchair for hire! Must bring good conversation and have own flask.
Posting the advert in a beachfront café, responses from other lonely locals start flooding in. There’s psychic medium Miriam who, besides talking to the dead, finds it therapeutic to belt songs from musicals. Glamorous Glenda has a penchant for teapot wine and skinny dipping. And even a reluctant Hattie can’t resist the endearing quirkiness of Jacob, walking the south-west coastal path in memory of his wife.
Everyone who sits in Hattie’s deckchair has a little pearl of wisdom to share, each bringing a tiny bit of the familiar sparkle back to Hattie’s eyes.
But as more and more visitors take up residence in Hattie’s deckchair – and her heart – will Hattie ever find a way to return to the woman she once was? And in the process, can Olivia also learn a lesson or two about reopening her own heart to love?
The Lonely Hearts Beach Club is an absolutely heart-warming story about the power of the mother-daughter bond, family secrets and second chances, perfect for readers who love Jojo Moyes, Faith Hogan and Sheila O’Flanagan.
Amy Miller is the pseudonym of Amy Bratley, who started her writing life working on magazines and newspapers. She has previously written three women’s fiction novels published by Pan Macmillan, the first of which was a bestseller in Italy. Her day job is being a freelance managing editor of both a vintage interiors magazine and a food magazine, two subjects she’s passionate about. Amy lives in Dorset with her husband and two children.
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