Found Family & Friendship

A review of Kristy Woodson Harvey’s Beach House Rules.

Kristy Woodson Harvey’s Beach House Rules delivers a story that anyone who has lived in the South has experienced: the power of gossip in a small town. This story takes place in a coastal town where juicy gossip is thick as the humidity in the air. If you enjoy reading about found family and perseverance through change, this is the book for you.

The story takes place in Juniper Shores, North Carolina, and features multiple points of view with the main characters being Charlotte Sitterly, her daughter, Iris, and widow Alice Bailey.

Charlotte and Iris’s lives change after gossip of a scandal spreads from a local Instagram account, accusing Charlotte’s husband, Bill, of swiping his client’s retirement funds. Bill’s character is arrested for financial fraud soon after readers find out about that piece of gossip.

This scandal causes Charlotte and her family to lose everything, leaving them in need of not only a place to stay, but also help rebuilding their lives. Help arrives in the form of Alice Bailey, a woman who is also subject to community gossip and has gone through her own struggles after being widowed three times. Alice offers them a place to stay in her former bed and breakfast, which has now been converted into a “mommune,” a home for mothers in need of help and guidance.

Readers see in this “mommune” a beautiful chosen family that helps one another through shared secrets and meals, as well as beach visits and deep conversations. The bond that develops between everyone in this found family makes readers feel Harvey’s art of depicting the beauty of female friendships between these mothers and their children’s found siblings.

Harvey does an excellent job of showing resilience through her characters, as well as creating mystery. Readers will keep turning the page to uncover whether Bill is innocent or not and who the anonymous @junipershoressocialite is—while also cozying up to a comforting story about the power of friendship with a side of sand and sea.