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Haven Point: A Novel Hardcover – June 8, 2021

by Virginia Hume (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,409 ratings
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INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER

"The book equivalent of a beach getaway." ―PopSugar

"A stunning debut." ―BookRiot

A sweeping debut novel about the generations of a family that spends summers in a seaside enclave on Maine's rocky coastline, for fans of Elin Hilderbrand, Beatriz Williams, and Sarah Blake.

1944: Maren Larsen is a blonde beauty from a small Minnesota farming town, determined to do her part to help the war effort––and to see the world beyond her family’s cornfields. As a cadet nurse at Walter Reed Medical Center, she’s swept off her feet by Dr. Oliver Demarest, a handsome Boston Brahmin whose family spends summers in an insular community on the rocky coast of Maine.

1970: As the nation grapples with the ongoing conflict in Vietnam, Oliver and Maren are grappling with their fiercely independent seventeen-year-old daughter, Annie, who has fallen for a young man they don’t approve of. Before the summer is over a terrible tragedy will strike the Demarests––and in the aftermath, Annie vows never to return to Haven Point.

2008: Annie’s daughter, Skye, has arrived in Maine to help scatter her mother’s ashes. Maren knows that her granddaughter inherited Annie’s view of Haven Point: despite the wild beauty and quaint customs, the regattas and clambakes and sing-alongs, she finds the place––and the people––snobbish and petty. But Maren also knows that Annie never told Skye the whole truth about what happened during that fateful summer.

Over seven decades of a changing America, through wars and storms, betrayals and reconciliations, Haven Point explores what it means to belong to a place, and to a family, which holds as tightly to its traditions as it does its secrets.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    St. Martin's Press
  4. Publication date
    June 8, 2021
  5. Dimensions
    6.25 x 1 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1250266521
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1250266521
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Haven Point:

"Fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Beatriz Williams will appreciate this sweeping, multigenerational family story."
––Booklist

"From losing relations to dealing with infidelity, hurricanes, war conflicts, and confidences held, we get an inside view of how these women survived through more than seven decades yet remained strong and steadfast in their devotion to each other."
––New York Journal of Books

"Haven Point has all the proper ingredients for anyone looking for a great summer read. The characters are realistic and potent, and Hume brings them to life in a very rich setting with compelling dialogue, intertwining romance, mystery, and history into the story of several generations of American women."
––Washington Examiner

"You will love curling up with this one under your beach umbrella!"
––Martha MacCallum, host of The Story

"Haven Point is a novel that had me making excuses to go to bed early, so that I could return to the story that had me daydreaming all day. I loved the characters, setting, historical references, dialogue, romance and mystery. Virginia Hume has written a book that I can’t wait to recommend to all of my friends."
––Dana Perino, former White House Press Secretary

"Unfolding from WWII to the present day, this delicious, intricate novel is woven together with romance, tragedy, family secrets and breath-taking surprises. I will read Haven Point over and over. I’ll give it to my friends. I’ll read anything Virginia Hume ever writes."
––Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of Girls of Summer

"Haven Point checks all the boxes for a great summer read: generations of strong women, an idyllic but insular coastal town, and an emotionally-rich story that explores the peaks and valleys of life in all its complicated glory. The Demarest family will stay with you long after their final secrets have been revealed."
––Jamie Brenner, nationally bestselling author of The Forever Summer

"Haven Point has all of the elements of a great beach read: sparkly summer town, beautiful people, sun-kissed cocktail parties and rambling mansions overlooking the sea. But don’t be fooled: No one is perfect. Hume has created unforgettable characters in the three generations of Demarest women whose stories unravel the dark secrets swirling around Haven Point, all while testing their character and family bond. A powerful novel of families trying to understand the forces that shape them just as the ocean shapes the elegant coastline they're summering on."
––Brooke Lea Foster, author of Summer Darlings

"A shimmering debut novel about four generations, a summer community in coastal Maine, and the secrets, grief and prejudices that are unwittingly passed down through the years. Rewarding and atmospheric, with deeply drawn characters and a setting you won’t soon forget. Delicious!"
―Jennie Fields, author of Atomic Love

"Taking readers from the wartime corridors of Walter Reed hospital to the contemporary summer singalongs in the rec hall, this wistful debut is perfect for those who want to follow characters through their lifetimes, examine complex family relationships, or enjoy a good redemption story. For fans of Elin Hilderbrand’s Summer of ‘69 and J. Courtney Sullivan’s Maine."
―Modern Mrs. Darcy

About the Author

Virginia Hume is a freelance writer and editor. Her early career was spent in politics and public affairs. She lives outside Washington, D.C. with her husband, their daughters, and an under-groomed bichon named Chester.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Press; First Edition, 2nd printing (June 8, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250266521
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250266521
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,409 ratings

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Virginia Hume

Virginia Hume

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
1,409 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Jill Farmer
5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating and Fun Vacation Read I Couldn’t Put Down
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2021
Verified Purchase
This debut novel by Virginia Hume completely swept me up in its expertly crafted story.

The rich physical descriptions of the setting—a generations old family vacation home and the community surrounding it in coastal Maine made me want to hop on a plane and spend every summer there from here to eternity.

I loved the central love story between nurse Maren, a down-to-earth midwestern transplant working as a cadet at Walter Reed during WWII and Oliver, a stoic physician also stationed at Walter Reed.

The imperfections of Oliver's ancestors (beginning with his parents) and the hardships (ranging from the pain of infidelity to the aftermath of a fateful accident) make for very riveting character arcs that kept me guessing (and unable to put the book down) from the first chapter through the last.

It's been a long while since I got so caught up in the triumphs and tribulations of a novel's characters. I ended up cursing at AND cheering for each person chronicled in these pages. I just thought they were so darn wonderfully human that they each wrapped themselves around my heart in their own way.

I really loved this book. I recommend it to every person who wants to get carried away in the best possible way by a delightful vacation read.

I'd like to kindly thank St. Martin's Press for granting me access to this Advanced Reader Copy.
19 people found this helpful
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Debbie
4.0 out of 5 stars A three generational saga of love and loss
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2021
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This story was very good because It had it all; happy and sad family times, community, romance, and tragedy.
Maren, the grandmother in this three generational saga of love and loss, is left to explain, to her grandaughter Skye, the details that lead to her Mother's death.
The story starts with Maren working at Walter Reed Hospital as a nurse with the Cadet Nurse Corp. She works with soldiers seriously injured in the war. There she meets, falls in love, and marries Oliver, a doctor. His family owns a summer home at Haven Point, with a close knit community where she doesn't feel like one of them. They have three children.
Annie was a happy and curious child but grew troubled as she reached her late teens. She felt the community was composed of snobs and were judgemental, similar to Maren's feelings. After the tragedy, she never returned to Haven Point . Annie decides not to marry, but she has a child, Skye. Skye has a difficult childhood with her Mom in and out of rehab for her drinking problem. In the end, Maren has to tell Skye what happened to Annie.
The book jumps back and forth through the years to get to the total story. I must admit, I found that a little confusing but it made the story connect in the end. The author created many wonderful secondary characters. I'm impressed that this is her first book and that I got a chance to meet her at our Book Club meeting. Virginia was delightful.
4 people found this helpful
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Opticat
5.0 out of 5 stars Great first book
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2023
Verified Purchase
Wow!! This was a fascinating read and one I couldn't put down. Maren, the main character and her granddaughter, Skye, are shown through the years from WWII to the early 2000s. The majority of the novel takes place in Haven Point, a small coastal town in Maine. The residents were all known to each other through their family heritage. Thus, outsiders were not very welcome. I think the 2nd half of the book centered on Annie, Maren's daughter, and Skye's mother. From free spirited child to depression and alcoholism, her life made it difficult for her daughter and her mother. The secrets that all come out toward the end make the story find all characters in a better place. Enjoy!
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Pat Hills
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful saga well worth the journey
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2022
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This saga woven over three generations Oliver and Maren, their children Billy, Annie and Charlie, and Sky and Ben is so well written, delightful at times, pulling at your heartstrings throughout. Haven Point is so much more than just a location in Maine with beautiful shorelines and craggy, rocky cliffs. It is a community, a home misunderstood but dearly loved. Virginia Hume does a masterful job with her character development, the merging of past, present and future to bring this beautiful story to life.
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carilynp
3.0 out of 5 stars A family drama in a summer backdrop rich in detail.
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2021
Verified Purchase
Three timelines, three generations of a family, one secluded enclave in Maine. The story begins when a young doctor and a young cadet nurse meet at Walter Reed Hospital while treating patients coming home from the war. As newlyweds, and from disparate backgrounds, Maren enters Oliver’s family and joins his world in Haven Point, where summer is a way of life, and she doesn’t exactly fit in to the perfect picture.

It took me some time to become familiar with all the characters, there are quite a few. Annie, Maren and Oliver’s daughter, is a free spirit, an artist, who has a daughter on her own, Skye. The child of an alcoholic single mother, Skye learns to fend for herself quite a bit and to develop a close relationship with her grandmother as well as her home away from home Fourwinds, on the coast of Maine, where she spends summer when mom is in rehab or otherwise not up to mothering.

What is unique to both Maren and Skye’s characters is their struggle to fit in to a society that doesn’t necessarily want them but also that they are surrounded by close friends. However, there are many secrets amongst the generations and because they are living in such a close-knit community it is difficult to get out of the predicaments they find themselves in. While on the surface, many of the characters lead seemingly lovely lives, they are beseeched by guilt, grief, infidelity, and tragedy that has shaken them. It certainly doesn’t help that the town gossip is so deeply ingrained in people’s thoughts that it has turned people against each other without good reason.

I was compelled to keep reading to find out why one of the characters had such limitations and seemed to be holding the story back.

HAVEN POINT is steeped in family drama, changing tides, complete with a summer backdrop in rich detail, you’ll feel as if you are walking alongside the characters on their way to the beach. 3.5 stars
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Miss Ellie
3.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant but predictable
Reviewed in Canada on July 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
I bought this on my kindle and read this on a recommendation from D Perino, of The Five. It was a pleasant enough story but hardly worth the recommendation. There are many books with this sort of theme, which is the old guard's resentment of new people coming to the 'country club", parental addiction and the way a certain class of men treated their families a couple of generations ago. There was nothing in this book that made it stand out from a thousand others. Once I had finished it, I promptly forgot all about it. I didn't dislike it and it filled up a few hours of lockdown, but I would not buy it in hard copy and would never read it again
One person found this helpful
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Louise B.
2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth it.
Reviewed in Canada on September 18, 2023
Verified Purchase
Too many jumps from era to era, had to back to see Who was Who. Hd to quit mid book.
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