Down with the Shipmans by Meg Mitchell Moore

Down with the Shipmans by Meg Mitchell Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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It’s the week after Fourth of July, and the Shipman sisters are returning to their picturesque summer home on the New Hampshire coast for what they believe is a family reunion, the first without their late mother. However, their tranquil setting quickly becomes a stage for drama when their father, Calvin, drops the bombshell news that he plans to sell the cherished beach house.

Mae, the youngest daughter, who has a newfound penchant for attracting trouble, is distraught, already dealing with her own emotional scars and a problematic rescue dog. Natalie, the middle sister and social media darling known for her seemingly idyllic life as a tradwife, is equally anxious, especially since her flawless public image is on the verge of imploding. Meanwhile, Jordan, the eldest, a high-powered crisis communications expert, is ready to be rid of the house so she can tend to her own professional disaster.

As old memories are stirred up and the sisters navigate both the packing of the house and their personal crises, the arrival of Calvin’s new wife pushes Jordan, Natalie, and Mae to decide how far they’re willing to go to preserve the Shipman bond.

A delicious summer read that explores the enduring power of family and sister connections, Down with the Shipmans is a humorous, heartfelt reminder that home is not a place, but the people who love you, no matter how imperfectly.
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When summer comes along, I want nothing more than to head to the beach...and if I can't be on a beach, I want at least to be able to visit one in the pages of whatever book I happen to be reading. For the past two years, Meg Mitchell Moore has given me that opportunity, and I am happy to say that I enjoyed her latest novel just as much as I did last year's Mansion Beach, although they were very different kinds of stories. In this book, we are introduced to three very different sisters, living three very different lives, who are brought back together at the behest of their father to spend what turns out to be their last summer in their late mother's beloved beach house. This turns into a exploration of their grief over the loss of their mother and this important tie to her, as they learn new things about each other and repair cracks in their relationships with one another that have been forming for a long time. Along the way, they also find out that some assumptions they have made in the past might not be true, and they all grow, both together and separately, in profound ways. While this presents as a beach read, there is complexity to the writing that had me wanting to sit with the Shipman sisters and dive deep into their individual stories...until I reached the point of the book where I could not put it down, and then I raced through to the finish and stayed up way too late until I had read every last word. And that, in my opinion, is the best kind of book. I look forward to reading more from this author.

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