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The Guest Book: A Novel [Paperback]

Marybeth Whalen
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)

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Book Description

July 3, 2012
When Macy Dillon was five years old her father encouraged her to draw a picture in the guestbook of a Carolina beach house. The next year, Macy returned to discover a drawing by an unidentified little boy on the facing page. Over the next eleven years the children continue to exchange drawings ... until tragedy ends visits to the beach house altogether. During her final trip to Sunset, Macy asks her anonymous friend to draw her one last picture and tells him where to hide the guest book in hopes that one day she will return to find it---and him. Twenty-five years after that first picture, Macy is back at Sunset Beach---this time toting a broken family and a hurting heart. One night, alone by the ocean, Macy asks God to help her find the boy she never forgot, the one whose beautiful pictures touched something deep inside of her. Will she ever find him? And if she does, will the guestbook unite them or merely be the relic of a lost childhood?

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The Guest Book: A Novel + She Makes It Look Easy: A Novel + The Mailbox: A Novel
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Marybeth Whalen is the wife of Curt and mom of six children. She is the director of She Reads, an online book club focused on spotlighting the best in women's fiction. Marybeth is the author of The Mailbox, She Makes It Look Easy, The Guest Book, and The Wishing Tree (Spring 2013). Marybeth spends most of her time in the grocery store but occasionally escapes long enough to scribble some words. She's always at work on her next novel. Marybeth and her family live in North Carolina. You can find her online at www.marybethwhalen.com.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Zondervan (July 3, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0310334748
  • ISBN-13: 978-0310334743
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #178,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marybeth Whalen is the wife of Curt and mom of six children. The family lives outside Charlotte, NC. Marybeth is the author of the novels "The Mailbox," "She Makes It Look Easy" and the upcoming "The Guest Book". She also serves as director of She Reads, an online book club focused on spotlighting the best in women's fiction. Marybeth spends most of her time in the grocery store but occasionally escapes long enough to scribble some words. She's always at work on her next novel. You can find her online at www.marybethwhalen.com.

Customer Reviews

Still, though it sounds like I hated large portions of it, I really liked the book a lot. D. Mckinzie  |  8 reviewers made a similar statement
The characters are well devoloped and the story itself is compelling. Firefly  |  16 reviewers made a similar statement
They share love, loss and learn with God's help to rebuild their lives and continue on. Enchanted In Dixie  |  14 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Guest Book August 17, 2012
Format:Paperback
When I was in college, I loved hearing Jim Croce sing. I had one of his albums and played it over and over and over and over again (ad nauseum). One song made its way into my memory "Time in a Bottle" and that song is key to The Guest Book by Mary Beth Whalen. Macy is a single-mom with a five year old daughter, Emma. She is also a daughter to Brenda and a sister to Max. She grew up going to the beach every year for vacation and spending it in a cabin named "Time in a Bottle." Her father encouraged her to draw a picture in the guest book every year when they visited the cabin. After the first time, she came back to find a picture drawn in response to hers. It became something of a correspondence between Macy and some anonymous boy. Ten years after her last visit to the cabin, Brenda, Max, Macy, and Emma return to the cabin to put some family ghosts to sleep and to enjoy one more vacation. Macy begins a journey to find the anonymous respondent to her drawings in the guest book. The journey takes the whole vacation to find her mysterious correspondent, but along the way, Macy makes some life-changing discoveries about herself.

I've never read anything by Mary Beth before, but I really enjoyed this story. She uses flash-backs creatively without disturbing the flow of the story. The journey of self-discovery as well as God-discovery Macy embarked on is real, something similar to one of my own.

I give this book a real five stars, with a bottle full of time.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars The Guest Book August 8, 2012
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
It all started when Macy lost the family contest to find the most beautiful seashell. Each year, her family spent two weeks at a beach cottage called Time in a Bottle. The year she was five, her father suggested the contest. She was very proud of her three fragile butterfly shells, but her older brother found a conch shell that was even more amazing. Because she was so upset about her loss, her father suggested she make an entry in the cottage's guest book left for guests to write about their experiences during their stay there. Since she was too small to write, she drew a picture, one of her three perfect shells. The next year that Macy and her family went to the cottage, a boy about her age had drawn a picture in the guest book in response to hers. This picture communication between the two budding artists continued for years, until the family stopped going to the cottage after Macy's father's death. It was just too painful to visit the cottage that was filled with so many happy memories.

Ten years later, as an adult with a child and a failed relationship behind her, Macy agrees to spend time in the cottage with her grieving mother, troubled brother, and her carefree little girl. Will the mystery artist have entered a new drawing just for her? Even more importantly, will she be able to find out who he is?

This is a light, but fun book. The reader is led through a maze of mystery by well-written, well-developed characters and picturesque settings. It is the perfect book for summer reading, light and breezy like a stay at the beach. I loved it!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Drawn to the Past August 8, 2012
Format:Paperback
What if you returned to a place in your past... and discovered your future. That is what happens to Macy. She has not been to the Guest house in ten years. On her last summer there, she drew a picture in the Guest Book and left a note. Would she ever return? During her childhood Macy went to Sunset Beach every year with her family. After loosing a find-the-best-sea-shell contest one year her father comforted her by purchasing a set of colored pencils for her to draw a picture in the guest book since she has too young to write. Every year after that she corresponded with another artist by way of drawings. After her father passed away during her teen years, she went back to the guest house one more time. Because of all the memories of her time there with her father it was too much for her family so they left and never went back .... until now! Macy's life has changed dramatically, as has her mother's and brother's. In a sense this return is a kind of closure for them, a new beginning on life. Macy wonders what ever happened to the artist who drew her pictures. Would she ever find out who he was? She has always felt drawn to him but was it too late? The trip to Sunset Beach turns into a soul searching adventure. Can Macy find God again, reconnect to her past, and let go of the things in her life that are pulling her down? Read it and find out!

I enjoyed this book, sent to me by Zondervan for the purpose of my review. I would certainly recommend it. It can be an encouraging book for those who have lost a loved one, need closure, need change, and renewed faith in God. Of course, it is just fiction but a good fiction story line can certainly make you think about you own life and which direction you are headed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT READ WITH SWEET ENDNG!
GREAT BOOK! NICE SUMMER READ!! Made my heart smile and left feeling good! Definitely should read yourself. God will always be The Artist!
Published 3 days ago by MCHURCH
5.0 out of 5 stars Precious, uplifting read (but, thankfully not overly sweet).
This book has nice solid bones, it's not all fluff and sweets. It's not cloying or annoyingly saccharine. Read more
Published 8 days ago by L. Perry
4.0 out of 5 stars Great summer read
While this book has religious undertones it wasn't so strong as to be off-putting. The story plot is relatively straightforward, a family who desperately needs to heal returns to... Read more
Published 24 days ago by Jeanne M
3.0 out of 5 stars The Guest Book
I don't usually read books with a religious undertone. And every time I say that I roll my eyes at myself because I seem to read them randomly -- even though they are on my "don't... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Amanda
3.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant read
The novel was a pleasant diversion and enjoyable read. Most women would be thrilled to have one decent man interested in them, but Macy has four; count 'em, four. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Laney
5.0 out of 5 stars Creative
As a long time reader , I am often fascinated with the premise and creativity that authors are able to establish. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jim Z
5.0 out of 5 stars The Guest Book by Marybeth Whalen
Love Love Love! What a breath of fresh air during these dreary days of February! I lost my husband to cancer five years ago, March 8, 2008 and was left to raise my five young... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Natalie
3.0 out of 5 stars Reads like a bunch of mushy greeting cards.
It's readable. It's okay. I'm feeling pretty challenged in writing a good review here because I found The Guest Book pretty bland. I don't have much of a response for it. Read more
Published 3 months ago by SAlaska
5.0 out of 5 stars fun read
This was my first ebook purchase and I'm very happy to have begun with it!! I will look for more by this author.
Published 3 months ago by TK
5.0 out of 5 stars This book is PERFECT in every way!
This book is so good, I could cry. I'm a writer and in all of my books, I write (in one way or another) about finding peace. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Writer of Books - Mage - Mom to Two
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