The Hidden Beach

Finished November 14

The Hidden Beach by Karen Swan

This novel has a lot going on. The main character, Bell Everhurst has been working as a nanny for three years for a professional couple in Stockholm. Bell is in her mid-twenties and, while English, had a Swedish grandmother and so speaks Swedish as well. The backstory for her presence in Stockholm comes out over the course of the book. 

The family she works for has a 9 year old son Linus, and twin girls, Elise and Tilde, who are four. Hanna is a physician and on the day the book begins, has had an emergency with a patient. When Bell takes a call from a clinic with an odd message, things as she know them, begin to unravel. 

With Linus's father emerging from a coma, things are now uncertain. He has significant influence, and Bell gradually senses that Hanna has less control of the situation than she would like. 

When summer arrives and the family goes off to their summer home, on a small island, things seem more normal, and Bell holds the fort there, entertaining and minding the kids during the day, with Hanna taking over after dark, and Max coming for the weekends. 

We also see Hanna's friends: her roommate Kris, a chef, and his doctor boyfriend Marc, and Tove, a server in the bar downstairs from their apartment. They also have a small cottage on the island archipelago, and often come down at weekends. 

When Midsommar arrives, Bell is given extra time off, and preps the friends place for their arrival, meeting a quiet man as she gathers supplies. While their first meeting doesn't go that well, there is a connection of sorts, and she sees him later during the festivities and still later, when taking a moment to herself. This night will set the scene for later developments, as Linus's father steps into the story in a bigger way. 

The story has an element of mystery, romance and lightheartedness, as well as a more serious plot underneath. Very enjoyable read. 

Girls Who Travel

Finished April 30

Girls Who Travel by Nicole Trilivas

This novel took me back to a time in my life when I did a long few months of travelling. The main characters, Kika Shores, is in her early twenties and returned home to New York a few months back from a yearlong backpacking tour where she travelled to many countries. She also began a romance with an Irish man, Lochlon, while she travelled and has kept in touch with him, hoping to reconnect. She doesn't consider him her boyfriend exactly, but she hasn't engaged in any other relationships since returning home. She found an office job courtesy of connections through her mother, a yoga teacher, but she hasn't put her heart into it, and it shows. When a mistake on her part ends up with the loss of that position, she is at first depressed, not knowing how she'll even be able to earn money to resume travelling. 

With very good timing, the connection who got her that job, and who now lives in London, asks if she would take on the job of nanny to their two young daughters, something that Kika had done before she travelled. Kika has fond feelings for the girls, Gwen and Mina, and with the hefy salary being offered, she jumps at the chance to take on the position.

As she finds her way back into the girls' lives, and thinks harder about what she really wants out of life, she also has the opportunity to reconnect with Lochlon, something that she finds herself having mixed feelings about. 

Watching Kika be so passionate about what she loves, and try to plan a future that includes more travel was something that awoke strong feelings in me around my past travelling. Seeing her look at making a real plan for her life was lovely. I really liked her relationship with the two girls, and see how she made friends among a variety of people in her new environment was inspiring. 

A lovely, uplifting read.