Setting and Introduction
The latest novel of accomplished writer Jane Green, Dune Road, is set in a wealthy area of Connecticut where Kit Hargrove and her friends live. Kit and her husband, Adam, divorce after Kit's frustration mounts following years of Adam's workaholic behavior. With the support of her best friend, Charlie; her new friend, Tracy; and her mother-figure neighbor Edie, Kit gets on with the business of life. She buys a small cottage, begins working as an assistant to a best-selling novelist named Robery McClore and quietly goes about raising her two small children while sharing custody with her ex. Life is simple as Kit's heart begins to mend.
On the surface, things seem great for all the supporting characters, too. Charlie and her husband are set financially and fully enjoy their spendy, trendy lifestyle; Tracy is passionate about the yoga classes she teaches in town; and Edie is busy keeping an eye on Kit and her kids. But things aren't as simple as they seem.
The Plot Thickens
When Robert falls for Tracy and they begin secretly dating, a mystery develops. Kit wonders about Tracy's motives for becoming involved with the older man, as Kit herself becomes involved with a smooth-talking man named Steve, who Edie instantly distrusts. As if this weren't enough, a woman named Annabel claiming to be Kit's sister suddenly arrives in town. Kit is initially excited although becomes wary as Annabel and ex-husband Adam seem to becoming awfully close. Meanwhile, Charlie finds out that her perfect lifestyle is about to end when her husband Keith loses his job and admits they are financially ruined.
Kit is now juggling an exciting new relationship with Steve, worrying about Annabel and her ex Adam, trying to figure out why Tracy is suddenly acting mysterious and aloof, letting Charlie cry on her shoulder in the wake of her financial mess and trying to do her assistant job plus raise the kids. That's a lot for any woman to handle, and Kit is no exception.
Ms. Green's appeal lies not so much in the fairly predictable storyline or ending but in the warmth and life she brings to her characters. As a reader, it is rare in chick lit to really end up caring about the novel's characters, but Ms. Green is a master of creating and developing characters in such a way that the reader cannot help but want to find out what will happen next to them. And that is the true gift of this book.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the characters lives all end up sorted out as Dune Road's reader learns more about Steve, and why Tracy's behavior has been out of character, and what Annabel is all about. It's typical chick lit coming to a relatively happy or at least mended ending, but it is a fairly satisfying close. There is a sense of a bit of open-end to the novel's ending...perhaps leaving room for a sequel?
Dune Road is published by Viking Adult and was published on June 16, 2009. TheISBN-13 number is 978-0670020867.
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