Customer Reviews

Silver Girl: A Novel

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Meredith Martin Delinn's world is crashing around her. She has been living the "high life" since her children were small. Her husband, Freddy, was one of those wonderful guys on Wall Street that got caught by the SEC (think Bernie Madoff) making off with his clients money and wonderful guy that he was, he dragged his wife and family down with him.

Freddy is now sitting in prison while Meredith and their son Leo are under investigation and filled with questions. Their son Carver never got into the family business so he is not facing the heat, but Leo has moved in with him and they can have no contact with their mother.

Meredith has lost everything except for some money she had of her own before she was married, but she has no home, no friends, can't talk to or see her sons, no social standing at all. She contacts her friend since childhood, Constance Flute. Their friendship fizzled out when they took all the money they had invested with Freddy out a couple of years ago. Connie's husband, Wolf, was dying and he just didn't think Freddy's numbers added up and thought he was doing something shady. But Meredith stood by her man and blamed Wolf's cancer for his poor judgement.

Connie is headed to Nantucket for the summer to try to heal from the devastating loss of not only her husband, but her daughter who is blaming her for not making her dad fight harder against the cancer that had returned. He chose his work over the treatments. He was an architect and he felt the work he was committed to needed to be completed and would be his legacy. Connie has called and left a voice mail every Sunday hoping that just once her daughter will pick up the phone or call her back.

Connie decides to take Meredith with her to Nantucket so they may also heal their friendship, but once the people of the island find out that Meredith is there, the friends become plagued with old and new troubles, adding even more stress in their lives at a place that was supposed to be healing, relaxing and full of happy memories. Can their friendship be restored? What kind of lives will they after when the summer ends?



This is the quintessential summer beach read. It takes on the power of friendship, love, loss, forgiveness, trust, happiness, prosperity, misery, and bliss, along with an element of suspense. It is also very current due to the scandal that happened in New York with Bernie Madoff recently, like I said above, but it shows the other side, that maybe some of the spouses of the Wall Street Execs really could be oblivious to what was really happening. When they are bringing home that much money it is kind of taken for granted and the how and why is not always questioned. Unfortunately most of us are not in that position so I didn't trust Meredith for a good part of this story, which made it more of a mystery for me as the clues were uncovered and linked together.

I also loved the special ways history was remembered and tied to some very beautiful music. It made the story so much more real as they were songs I loved from my past. Just added a wonderful element that set the back stories and much more.

I had the privilege to read an review Hilderbrand's The Island last summer and declared it my Best General Fiction Read of 2010. Elin Hilderbrand has become one of my favorite authors and I can't wait to read her entire back list and anything she writes in the future.

The tagline of this blog is "Escape With A Good Book". This is the perfect "escape" book!! I did over the weekend and am so glad I did. Get yours today, fix a nice pitcher of lemonade, splash on a little sunscreen and hit the beach, deck chair, or porch swing and sit back and enjoy this wonderful story.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Reagan Arthur Books, Little Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

"Sail on Silver Girl. Sail on by. Your time has come to shine. All your dreams are on their way." Page 341

Meredith Delinn certainly didn't feel like any dreams were coming true after her husband was arrested for stealing millions from investors.

Being the wife of an investment thief definitely was not pleasant. Freddy had cheated investors out of millions, was finally caught, and made his family's life miserable. He wouldn't talk to authorities about anything and wouldn't tell them that his wife and sons had nothing to do with his swindling of investors out of their money. Meredith and her two sons were also under investigation.

So.....as Freddy was hauled off to jail for 150 years, Meredith left town with her best friend Connie. They were staying at Connie's beach house in Nantucket....beautiful Nantucket where Meredith had to remain incognito since many investors lived there.

Despite her disguise, someone recognized Meredith and small assaults on Connie's property started occurring. They were blaming Meredith for Freddy's thievery.

SILVER GIRL went from past to present describing the story behind each character and how they became the person they were today. Many themes presented themselves.....love, health issues, social issues, family and friendship connections, and most evident.....GREED, BETRAYAL, and DECEIT. All three were ruining many lives including Meredith's.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and became involved with the characters. The characters were made of a great circle of friends tangled in situations since high school. As you read the book, you will start to ask yourself: Do I really know the people I have in my life relationships? Well.....hopefully we do, but the book definitely will make you question yourself.

The book title plays a major role in solving the mystery that was also woven into the book.

I am giving Silver Girl an outstanding 5/5....Ms. Hilderbrand kept my interest from the first to the very last page.

"Silver Girl" is a good book to take on vacation; it's long enough that you won't finish it too quickly but an easy read and one that while inspired by current events, is also focused on relationships and emotions. It tugs at the heartstrings but Hilderbrand also shows us the painful and very real aftermath of treachery, betrayal, and loss, regardless of their causes.

Meredith has been cut off by friends and acquaintances, she's alone, emotionally raw, and devastated by what her husband has done. She's vilified, almost broke, and afraid to be seen in public. She vacillates between wondering if there was a part of her that knew what he was doing and being convinced that she was clueless. Being clueless is not much of an improvement but Hilderbrand deftly portrays the relationship between Meredith and Freddy. It's a fact that there are many couplings and marriages where one partner is so left out of the other's work and parts of their emotional life. Hilderbrand also deftly portrays Meredith's utter abandonment and her feelings of loss at the relationships that she thought she had.


The story happens over the course of the summer and we see Meredith struggle, adjust and grow; we see her and Connie rebuild their friendship, and we see the parallels in their grief and loss. It was a little slow at times and Hilderbrand definitely aims to tug on your emotions but it's an interesting read and one that at times is raw and painful. Overall, it's an enjoyable story and perfect for the beach or pool.

This review originally appeared at my blog [...]

Without giving away the story line, um!!! What story line? This sophomoric attempt to capitalize on the Madoff debacle falls short in every way. Not written in an interesting manner. Shallow characters who only care about themselves and their plight. Each chapter title is named for one of the two major characters, duh.. No plan for redeeming their lives. Constant failure without a clue for life or ultimate happiness. I bought this book because it was a best seller and I was "in between" books for my Kindle. Surely not a big mistake for the price, but a total waste of time. If it were shown on TV I would have turnd it off. A charitable comparison to Peyton Place rates only one of my stars because there was no lower rating. Sorry to be a party pooper to those who relish this type of "entertainment".

First Thoughts after finishing book: I'm glad that I didn't end up hating Meredith!!

What I liked about this book:

The story is very relevant to what has been occurring in corporate America and Wall Street. Greed, selfishness, and amassing "things" is the main agenda for many in this country.
Meredith's best friend Connie- if not for this character I would have stopped reading this book as I really couldn't take another minute trying to feel sorry for someone who wouldn't think twice about dropping $20,000 on linens and candles!! Connie is the best friend that I think a lot of women would love to have. She came across as a genuine and caring person.
The setting was pretty awesome...I would love to visit Nantucket, but I'm sure they wouldn't let me in!!
The meaning behind the title Silver Girl....I'd tell you more but I would never spoil the story for anyone!
What I didn't like about this book:
Meredith! I realize that the author wanted to convey to the reader how materialistic Meredith had become but geesh.....I'm sickened by the excess of her spending and how she never blinked once about spending tens of thousands of dollars on stupid stuff!! That part that really galled me is that this is so prevalent in our society. I'm disgusted at how the average person believes that in order to be happy they must ACQUIRE things...the more you spend the better you are. I almost bailed on this one just because of that and the name dropping on clothes...IMHO, I could care less what designer shoes you have on. Uh oh...I think I just went on a rant. Sorry...........
My other beef is that this is a Reagan Arthur book and I've read a few from this division and have thought it to be more literary fiction. To me this was a good beach read but nothing more than that.
Recommend? I would recommend this one to friends but I'd give them a heads up on how I really had a hard time liking and/or feeling sorry for Meredith. But I'm pretty sure that was the author's intention!!

Hildebrand gave us ideas about how the characters were going forward but I would have preferred a more indepth ending. I feel that the whole book was leading up to a great ending that just didn't happen!

I absolutely love Elin Hilderbrand and look forward to her new book coming out every summer. Although the writing of this book was very good along the lines of her usual style, the story was hackneyed and oddly familiar.
This book revolves around "Meredith" whose husband just got busted for the largest Ponzi scheme in history, to the tune of $50 Billion... Sound familiar?!? All her friends disown her and her children are prevented by the courts from speaking to her. She just happens to have an old friend from grade school who happens to have a summer house right on the beach in Nantucket... (Why don't I have friends like this to call when I'm having problems?!?) Anyway, she goes to Nantucket to escape the media circus only to encounter a stalker, a love interest, and further troubles from the press.
The book may be a little predictably and too close to the real Madoff story, but it is well written and definitely a good summer book. However, if you want to read only ONE Elin Hilderbrand, read one of her others.

STORY BRIEF:
This book was inspired by the Bernie Madoff financial disaster. People gave money to Bernie who created fake reports telling them they were earning huge profits, but in reality he was stealing their money. For many people this was their life's savings. Bernie went to jail.

In this story Freddy Delinn is the Bernie character. His wife is Meredith. They have two sons in their 20s. One son Leo worked for Freddy. The story begins with Freddy going to jail. Meredith and Leo are being investigated and may end up in jail. The public hates Meredith. She has been forced to leave her home and almost all of her possessions (clothes, jewelry, art, linens, cars, etc.) which will be sold at auction. The only money she has is $45,000 in a bank cd which she earned years ago as a teacher.

Meredith and Connie were best friends as teenagers. They had a disagreement and have not spoken in a few years. Meredith needs a temporary place to stay during the investigation, and she calls Connie for help. Connie picks her up and drives her to Connie's vacation home on the island of Nantucket.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
I didn't like it. More than half of the book is flashback, telling stories about Meredith and Connie in the past, for example: Meredith dated Toby as a teen, he broke up with her. Meredith met Freddy, how their relationship started, what their life was like being married. Other flashbacks include Connie's life with her husband Wolf who died of cancer 2 ½ years ago. Connie still grieves. Also told is why Connie's daughter won't speak to her which causes more distress for Connie.

Current events include: The authorities won't let Meredith talk to her two sons until the investigations are over, so Meredith worries about them. Meredith wears a disguise when she goes out so people won't say mean things to her. Because Meredith is staying in Connie's home, someone vandalizes Connie's property, like painting "thief" on the house and slashing her tires.

The past tellings were unimaginative. It was kind of boring. I was not engaged. My only curiosity was wondering if Meredith and Leo would be cleared of the charges.

I like to see relationships develop, but that does not happen here. Although there is a "little bit of romance" for Connie, it was not emotionally engaging. It was more of a curiosity. The main theme is current relationships are broken or lost. And then we learn about causes in the past. For some of them, the characters reconnect at the end of the book but differently than in the past.

This book does NOT have:
- intriguing or fascinating characters
- witty, intelligent, or inspiring dialogue
- solving interesting mysteries
- suspense and action
- learning new things
So who is this book for? I don't know, I suppose people who like reality TV shows.

Another of my complaints was that I was tired of hearing Meredith's repetitive pondering about how could Freddy have done this and why didn't she question things more. This happens a lot during the book.

Meredith was a good student in college, but she was emotionally needy for Freddy. As a result she gave up her own goals and interests for him. I didn't admire anything about her. She had a lack of curiosity. If she had been more curious about things, she might have discovered some of the bad things Freddy was doing. Freddy's bad activities included more than just stealing money. Although Freddy went to great lengths to keep things hidden from Meredith, she now realizes there are things she could have done if she had been more curious.

The ending was just ok. Nothing bad but nothing fulfilling. I wanted to see more details about Samantha, a secondary character.

In Acknowledgments at the end of the book the author states "Some books are tougher than others; this one was very tough." IMO if the author is finding it hard to write, maybe that's a clue that it will be hard to read because that's how I felt. It was not enjoyable.

DATA:
Story length: 403 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: one, referred to not shown. Setting: current day Nantucket Island off Massachusetts. Copyright: 2011. Genre: women's relationship fiction.

I have read all of Elin's novels and a few were off the mark but this one is a total waste of time and money. I waited anxiously for the release and even postponed reading it for 2 weeks so I could really be in the summer mood. Boy was I disappointed! The storyline was ripped from the headlines (Madoff) and couldn't have been more predictible or boring. I will continue to order her books in hopes she gets back to the great storyteller she is. Save your money and wait for something better. Common Elin, get us a great Nantucket plot...you can do it!

I wanted to like this book but I just never even got to where I liked either one of the main characters. They don't seem connected to me in the least, really funny idea of BFFs. But it is about Nantucket and I always like to read about it having lived there at one point in time. And also, Elin, if you are going to drop luxe names, at least get them right. It's Carolina Herrera, not Caroline. And Taittinger Champagne, not Tattinger. Quelle horreur!