Book Blurb:
For decades, the lush vineyards and majestic manor house of the Hollander Estates winery made it the North Fork of Long Island’s premier destination for lavish parties and romantic day trips. Now the Hollander family fortunes have suffered, and as matriarch Vivian Hollander prepares for the arrival of her daughter and granddaughter for their annual summer reunion, she fears it might be their last. Worse, selling the family legacy to strangers might expose the dark secret she’s harbored for thirty-five years….Visits to the winery have been bittersweet for Leah Hollander Bailey ever since her father refused to let her take her place in the family business. Now a successful Manhattan shop owner, Leah loves the life she’s built with her husband and daughter–but with her store, and her marriage, at a crossroads, she can’t help but view this year’s pilgrimage home as a sorely needed escape. College senior Sadie Bailey has a thesis to write, and the towering shelves of the manor’s library offer endless academic inspiration. But when Sadie discovers evidence that her proper Grandma Vivian once ran a book club dedicated to the scandalous women’s novels of decades past, the shockingly outrageous tomes give her new insight into her family’s glory days.
Resurrecting the trashy book club begins as the distraction all three women need. But as they battle to save their birthright and heal old wounds, they just might find that the pages contain everything they need to know about how to fight for what they want–and for the life, and love, they deserve.
My Review: 4 stars
Blush was such a fun read with amazing throwbacks to popular women’s fiction from the 80s. Remember Chances by Jackie Collins or Lace by Shirley Conran? These books were front and center as the characters reread these iconic books and discussed them in a book club. Through those characters they see how these books paved the way for strong women characters and strong women in real life!
Blush as a title was perfect. It represented the wine, which was a huge plotline in the book, and it referred to how a well written sex scene can also make you blush. I had no idea what this book was about when I started, I just knew it was by Jamie Brenner so of course, it was a must read. What I loved most about the book was the depiction of the three generations of mothers and daughters. It was realistic in the things they didn’t say that needed to be said, the things they thought to be true but weren’t, the secrets harbored and the immense, unconditional love.
I learned a lot about winemaking, probably too much, but good for future trivia nights. Brenner created an easy, breezy summer read but also touched on important topics like immigration, religion, infidelities, family business, and girl power. Well done!
Quotes I liked:
But ultimately she concludes that a woman is always alone in the truth of her own marriage.”
“Who can teach you about the when the well of love seems to run almost dry and you just have to keep going on faith?”
“A classic is a book that has never finished what it has to say.” – Italo Calvino
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