Zoe was the “surprise” baby of the family, but with her mother’s death, the surprises were just beginning. Jenny kept this secret from her family, including Zoe. Was this an act of love so that the family would be intact and Zoe would grow up not being “other”? Or was it selfishness, that Jenny cherished having this secret? Or was it sheer cowardice? Did she do the right thing?
Families can, even unwittingly, put pressures on their members to conform to the family’s idea of what’s best. Zoe gave up her dreams of becoming a composer when she choked at her Juilliard audition. Do you think she used this as an excuse to cave to her family’s wishes? Did she give up too soon? Or did she make the smart decision?
Zoe segued her love of music into a profession that put her near music without ever being a maker of music. Do you think this would have been enough? Can a person ever find true fulfillment if they don’t pursue their dreams? Or as Eve did, can they make another choice become their dream?
Hannah’s bitterness and need for control has overshadowed and shaped all their lives. Do you feel any empathy/sympathy for her after the trouble she’s caused? What was it that drove her to hurt the ones she loves? Can someone like that really love others? Do you think there’s a chance for her to become more accepting and be a real part of the family, or is it too late for her to change?
Do you think of Floret and Henry as relics of a bygone era? Or do they play a dynamic part in the lives around them? Is their acceptance of almost everything understandable? Or do you think they should have been more confrontational, stood up for themselves? What do you think makes Henry finally come to the decision to offer to sell Wind Chime House to Eve? And why does Eve refuse to take it?
David feels most comfortable in the wilderness. He doesn’t always get why people act the way they do; he finds them exhausting. Does this seem strange considering he was raised in a commune with a large extended family? Did the circumstances of his brother’s death, his guardianship of his nephew, Eli, or just his artistic spirit influence this attitude?
Does history repeat itself? Lee and Jenny were pulled apart by Jenny’s family and Hannah. Have Eli and Mel become the symbol of that past? Lee, Hannah, David, and Eve all have their reasons to keep the current young lovers apart. Why? Are some of their reasons more valid than others? More detrimental?
The first time Zoe hears the chimes, she knows she’s come to the right place to spread her mother’s ashes. How does she reconcile this with the very contained, suburban mother she knew? Do you think it helps her understand her mother better? Zoe herself feels a connection to the chimes. Is it their music or do the chimes represent something more?
Why do you think people come back to Wind Chime House for their final days or for their final resting place? What creates that atmosphere in the woods by the sea? Is it something that Henry and Floret and the other people who lived there have nurtured? Or are some places on earth just special, where we can tap into something bigger than ourselves?
Zoe finds a whole new family, not all of whom are welcoming. She’s torn now between the Bascombes and the Gordons. Do you think she’ll be able to find a place for herself with each family? Or will she eventually have to choose between them?
About the Author
SHELLEY NOBLE is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Whisper Beach and Beach Colors. Her other books include Stargazey Point, Breakwater Bay, Forever Beach, The Beach at Painter’s Cove, Lighthouse Beach, and four spin-off novellas. A former professional dancer and choreographer, she lives on the Jersey shore and loves to discover new beaches and indulge in her passion for lighthouses and vintage carousels. Shelley is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Women’s Fiction Writers Association.
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Also by Shelley Noble
Lighthouse Beach
Christmas at Whisper Beach (novella)
The Beach at Painter’s Cove
Forever Beach
Whisper Beach
A Newport Christmas Wedding (novella)
Breakwater Bay
Stargazey Nights (novella)
Stargazey Point
Holidays at Crescent Cove
Beach Colors
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
a beach wish. Copyright © 2019 by Shelley Freydont. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
First William Morrow paperback published June 2019
first edition
Title page art © Dave Barnard / Shutterstock, Inc.
Cover design by Elsie Lyons
Cover photographs © Jumping Rocks/UIG/Getty Images (porch/chairs); © Titova Valeria/Getty Images (windchimes top); © Danielle Donders/Getty Images (windchimes); © vilax/Shutterstock (sea glass)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
Digital Edition JUNE 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-267599-6
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-267598-9
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