The Beach Hut

Reading Casandra Parkin’s novels in the ‘wrong’ order has in no way diminished my appreciation of any of them. Each one is a treat – each has its own voice while the author’s is a constant – a presence reverberating through all her novels.I’ve caught up now & with The Beach Hut, the author’s second book, found myself immersed in a contemporary, sometimes tough, ultimately poignant story, interspersed with charming, fairy-tale vignettes. (These are small, exquisite creations & I could see them gathered into a collection.)The Beach Hut isn’t about twists per se – it’s a series of ‘Ah’ moments, slow realisations & relief that you didn’t (necessarily) spot the clues. I loved that I hadn’t worked out the truth about Donald & immediately wanted to go back to the beginning & read the book again, in full knowledge.What we do know is, he’s a retired copper, running a pub in a small seaside town in Cornwall. He’s mourning his wife. He’s Alicia’s dad & he will do anything to protect her. She’s fifteen & would rather he backed off, left her to her own life & secrets. Because we all have those don’t we? Wild, crazy Finn & his gentle, protective sister Ava certainly do. They rock up on the beach, build the titular hut & not everyone approves. Certainly not Donald. They plan on staying until Midwinter. Finn & Ava befriend Alicia & these four people’s lives become unexpectedly entangled & their various secrets, as in the very best of novels, eventually spill over.Cassandra Parkin has a deft way with words. She creates memorable, authentic characters (I love Finn & will never forget him) & above all, she makes you long for her next book.Highly recommended & not enough stars!

I’m a huge fan of the author and have now read all of her books. The Beach Hut is the first one I bought and ended up being the last book I read. The Beach Hut is a fantastic book, just the kind of emotional tear-jerker I’ve come to expect from the author. I liked the way the story moves back and forth in time between the present and past events for all characters which led them to this moment. I loved Finn and Ava; their bond touched me very deeply. My heart went out to them. I liked the way Donald’s character unravels, at first he appears to be holier than thou until his daughter stumbles across dark secrets from the past which make him so much more human. The Beach Hut is a terrific read.

Two strands of story with one predominant location, a beach which has enormous meaning in the lives of a brother and sister who always dreamed of living in a hut on the dunes. The sea is the breath of the book, the soundtrack to the story of Ava and Finn, who visit the beach in Cornwall when they are children and it has an enormous impact on them. They return regularly over the ensuing years, until it becomes the only place they can conceive of being when their lives are irrevocably changed by a piece of devastating news.Ava has always looked after Finn, and they always promised each other they'd make their mutual dream come true one day...Donald brought his daughter Alicia to live in the seaside town ten years earlier, when her mother died. Alicia has always believed her loving but controlling father was in the Police Force.Now Alicia's getting herself into deeper waters than Donald could ever imagine of his innocent little girl, whom he refuses to believe is growing up.When Ava and Finn turn up and have the audacity to move into the mysteriously appeared hut on the beach, the carefully repressed violence in Donald erupts.Cassandra Parkin's storytelling is exquisitely crafted and her characters utterly believable. What's best about them is their multiple dimensions. Donald could have been a baddie through and through, but his capacity for love counterbalances this and in turn, makes him loveable. Ava is so adult and yet so vulnerable at the same time. Alicia's a child still, yet, unmistakably a young woman too. Finn has been protected and coddled by Ava at her own expense, yet when she needs him, he steps up to the mark.I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves the complexity of human nature, and the joy of stories within a story, and the power of beaches.

A good read, happy with purchase.

When a book grips me I race through it, in a breathless, page-turning, what-happens-next way. If it's a good book I read it again, much more slowly. I've just read The Beach Hut again, savouring its beautiful prose, its structure, its rich 'rogues' gallery' of characters, every one of which is alive and believable, even minor ones. Take Caroline, Finn's girlfriend. While Finn is larger than life and fascinating, he would indeed be infuriating as a boyfriend. And Paul, Ava's husband, would of course feel irritated and excluded by Ava and Finn's close relationship. I found the single-minded (Asperger's?) George hilarious.Other reviewers have summarised the plot, so I won't. While the ending is unrealistic, it is absolutely necessary to the story. It is a fairytale of sorts, after all. And I have dreamed of living in a beach hut all my adult life...Cassandra Parkin is a great writer.