Down by the Water [Mass Market Paperback]

Caroline Upcher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 4, 2002

Hope Collins-Calder has a stressful job as a realtor in the Hamptons, an ex she can't shake, a current husband she's beginning to regret, and a serious child -care crisis. What she needs is a good, traditional British nanny. What she gets is Annabel Quick. Elegant, sheltered, unmarried, and sad, Annabel is no Mary Poppins. But as she sets about getting Hope's chaotic house in order, she begins to notice her own heart miraculously mending as well, thanks in large part to Sheldon, a gentle handsome local carpenter who is stirring up emotions Annabel was certain she'd buried long ago. And over the course of one remarkable summer by the shore -- when marriages are tested, secrets revealed, and lives renewed --Annabel will find herself becoming more part of the Collins-Calder family than she, or Hope, ever bargained for.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Upcher's lovers are all star-crossed in this with-it, literate sitcom about who's right for whom. Hope Collins, a high-powered Hamptons real estate agent, is married to husband number two, the helpless/hopeless but charming British Eddie Calder, an editor at a New York publishing house and the father of baby Booty. Hope has two older children eight-year-old Harry and six-year-old Coco by her bounder ex-husband, Craig, now a hotshot Hollywood producer. She still carries a torch for this stinker, who butters her up only so she'll come baby-sit the kids on the rare occasions they see him. Feeling the need for a Mary Poppins to set all right, Hope requires Eddie to find one, and his sister sends along 47-year-old Annabel Quick. Annabel has the training but hasn't worked as a nanny for years; her plan is to come to the U.S. to escape the shambles of her personal life in England. Will she straighten out the disastrous Collins-Calder household and find time for a bit of romance herself? This work is charming, if a bit light, with gentle befuddlement standing in for suspense. Though initially Hope seems to be quite the empty career woman, she grows on the reader, and the kids add a realistic dimension, as do in-law and co-worker problems. While Upcher's characters take a ridiculous amount of time to come to the obvious conclusions, this is still an entertaining ride. (June)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Hamptons real estate agent Hope Collins-Calder can't manage her own life, much less those of her three children four if you count husband No. 2. So, like many other upwardly mobile women, she enlists the services of a nanny. The latest entry in the daycare brigade is misfortune-prone Annabel Quick, late of Cornwall, England. A single and attractive 45, she gladly accepts the offer only to find herself in the midst of a live-action soap opera. Unhappily remarried to a Brit, Hope yearns for the first husband who abandoned her while the children run amuck. Meanwhile, Annabel is attracting men like flies. Since she's never been lucky in love, it doesn't surprise her that she falls for the least suitable candidate. Both Hope and Annabel, so dissimilar on the surface, learn that matters of the heart override logic. By turns touching and amusing, Upcher's fourth novel will make excellent beach reading. [The British-born Upcher once worked in the Hamptons as a nanny for director Mike Nichols. Ed.] Jodi L. Israel, MLS, Jamaica Plain, M.
- Jodi L. Israel, MLS, Jamaica Plain, MA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (June 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061031526
• ISBN-13: 978-0061031526
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,279,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Why Did I Finish This?, June 23, 2002

By 

BeachReader (Delaware) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Down by the Water (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was so badly written and disorganized, the characters were so poorly developed....I do not know why I finished it.

What little was revealed about these mostly spoiled and unlikeable characters made me want to give most of them a swift kick. The situations were farfetched and unrealistic --almost laughable. The plot, if one can call it that, jumped all over the place and never returned to where it left off. Contrivances and coincidences abounded. It was so obvious how it would end.

This book sorely needed some strong editorial input to get it re-organized and clean it up.

I had looked forward to this book since I really liked one of this author's other books, "Grace and Favor". It is a shame Ms. Upcher did not take more care with "Down by the Water".

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unlikable characters in an uninteresting story, September 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Down by the Water (Mass Market Paperback)

There's not much to like here. The characters are, without exception, annoying and unlikable, from status-obsessed Hope right down to her destructive two-year-old daughter, Booty. If this family lived next door to me, I'd move. Luckily, all I had to do was toss the book without finishing it.

A huge disappointment and a waste of money. Keep browsing.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ok book, but I cared more about the nanny than Hope, August 19, 2002

By 

"hronovech" (Ocean Grove, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Down by the Water (Hardcover)

The book was an ok, average book. I thought that Hope was very spoiled and she annoyed me. I just couldn't really get into caring about her. The nanny was a more interesting character. It was strange how they ended really quickly by summing everything up and solving all the issues-it was a little too fast.
I don't think I'll look for other books by this author. Maybe if Hope had had some turnaround and decided not to be so spoiled and obsessed with money, she would have interested me more.

-heather