Wednesday 7 June 2017

Book ~ "The Identicals" (2017) Elin Hilderbrand

From Goodreads ~ Identical twin sisters who couldn't look more alike ... or live more differently.

Harper Frost is laid-back, easygoing. She doesn't care what anyone thinks of her. She likes a beer and a shot and wouldn't be caught dead wearing anything fashionable. She's inherited her father's rundown house on Martha's Vineyard, but she can't hold down a job, and her latest romantic disaster has the entire island talking.

Two beautiful islands only eleven miles apart.

Tabitha Frost is dignified, refined. She prefers a fine wine and has inherited the impeccable taste of her mother, the iconic fashion designer Eleanor Roxie-Frost. She's also inherited her mother's questionable parenting skills - Tabitha's teenage daughter, Ainsley, is in full rebellion mode - and a flailing fashion boutique on Nantucket in desperate need of a cash infusion.

One unforgettable summer that will change their lives forever.

After more than a decade apart, Harper and Tabitha switch islands - and lives - to save what's left of their splintered family. But the twins quickly discover that the secrets, lies and gossip they thought they'd outrun can travel between islands just as easily as they can. Will Harper and Tabitha be able to bury the hatchet and end their sibling rivalry once and for all? Before the last beach picnic of the season, there will be enough old resentments, new loves and cases of mistaken identity to make this the most talked-about summer that Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket have experienced in ages.

Harper and Tabitha are in their late 30s and are identical twins.  When their parents split up about twenty years ago, Harper went with her father to Martha's Vineyard and Tabitha stayed with her mother on Nantucket.  The two sisters, who were very close before the divorce, felt the distance.  Then a tragedy happened about 15 years ago that split them up emotionally even more.

Harper has had a hard time holding a job in the past and is been dating a married man.  Tabitha has been working with their dominating mother running their mother's dress shops.  She has a teenage daughter named Ainsley and, wanting to be a "cool mom", hasn't invoked many rules ... so Ainsley is running around with the wrong crowd and getting into trouble.

When their father dies, the sisters switch lives for the summer.  Harper moves to Nantucket and runs their mother's dress shop and takes care of Ainsley.  Tabitha moves to Martha's Vineyard and starts to renovate their father's house to sell it.  Unfortunately she has to live with Harper's reputation.

I liked the writing style of this book and found it an easy read.  The writing is in third personal perspective with the focus on the different characters and what was going on in their lives (the chapters are labeled).

I didn't find the main characters likable, though.  Harper had made some questionable decisions in the past and doesn't have any friends.  Tabitha has allowed herself to be under her mother's rule all these years and is a bad parent.  Ainsley has been taking advantage of the fact that Tabitha is a bad parent.  There is a happy ending and all the characters learn their life lessons throughout the summer and become more likable.

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