Book Review: Life's a Beach by Claire Cook

Sep 30, 2011
Jaclyna Perez

Life's a Beach - Claire Cook

Life's a Beach; a beach read, is about a 40-year old woman, her relationships, and her family. This review focuses on character analysis and plot.

Life's a Beach, a beach read told in first-person, is about a 40-year old woman (Ginger), her relationships, and her family. Ginger has quit her job, moved back in with her parents, with her cat (Boyfriend), and is casually dating a glassblower. Her parents are going to sell their house, so she is forced to make a decision about her future; regarding her job, her home, and her relationships. In the midst of all this, Ginger must support her sister who is going through a mid-life crisis of sorts and watch her nephew who is an extra for an upcoming movie. On the set, she receives more pressure about not having kids of her own and she meets a a guy who is highly attracted to her.

Characters

Ginger Walsh:

Overview: Ginger, a woman without a plan, avoids making decisions that could potentially tie her down. As a result, she's only in a quasi-relationship with the glassblower, works part-time making jewelry, and is living in the room above her parents' garage. By the end of the novel, she understands more about what it's like to be a mother, makes a decision about her boyfriend, and selects her future career.
Analysis: Because the story is told from Ginger's point of view, the reader can get a clear glimpse into her thoughts and actions. Although her life is not the most normal, it's easy to identify with some of her decisions and actions. Having said this, some of her choices are baffling. She tends to rely on her cat to make jewelry-making decisions which is a bit far-fetched at best. When she ultimately makes a decision between her quasi-boyfriend and the new fling, it really seemed like a decision made with a toss of a coin.

Geri:

Overview: Geri, Ginger's older sister turning 50, is a family woman with three children, a loving husband, and a desk job. Although her and her sister don't seem to get along, they spend a lot of time together and rely on one another for support, especially since Ginger is the acting guardian of her son while he is on set.
Analysis: There is no doubt that turning 50 is a big milestone for anyone, and her tunnel-vision focus on creating a perfect birthday for herself makes sense. Unfortunately, Geri's sole role appears to be to offer advice to Ginger (regardlessof whether or not it's welcome) and to talk about her birthday. Ginger's detachment from Geri makes it difficult for her to sympathize when Geri has an emotional breakdown.

Noah:

Overview: Noah, Ginger's quasi-boyfriend and glassblower, devotes a lot of his time into his glassblowing business. He has a dog that he is clearly fond of and he takes occasional breaks to visit Ginger, usually unannounced.
Analysis: He is a minor character and the only perspectives the reader gets are from Ginger who seems to have a 'take-it-or-leave-it' attitude towards him and her family who vocalize a distaste for him. As a result, his character is very flat and there's a strong lack of evidence of why they have a relationship (other than the flashback of when they first met).

Tim Kelly:

Overview: Tim, a gaffer for the movie set, seems to be highly attracted to Ginger. He's divorced, handsome, and seems to make quite a bit of effort into attracting Ginger.
Analysis: Descriptions/jokes of what is a gaffer become redundant throughout the novel. Also, it is very unclear as to why he is so interested in Ginger when she seems to be trying to push him away and she does not do anything to try to attract his attention. It does not make sense as to why he would lend her a very expensive piece of machinery when he only knows her on set. His character was not very convincing.

Review

Overall, the story is fairly logical, a fairly quick read and free from glaring typographical errors. I read this book on vacation, and I found it to be mildly entertaining. However, the story and all of the characters felt extremely flat, making it difficult to connect to the story or care about the characters. The comedic elements began to feel more and more forced as the story progressed; for example Ginger's father seemed to be in the story purely for comic relief. The story ended a little too neatly and in many cases the motivation for decisions was lacking.

About the Author

Claire Cook, a wife and mother of two, began her career as an author after the age of 40 but had been doing free lance writing and creative writing throughout her life. She currently has eight novels published, one of which has been turned into a movie.