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Coast Road

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Life's greatest gifts come to us by accident. Barbara Delinsky has always had a gift for creating tales of extraordinary emotional power and depth. Now the New York Times bestselling author of Three Wishes surpasses herself once again in a novel that takes readers on a journey as richly textured, colorful, and poignant as the northern California landscape in which the book is set.

Rachel Keats and Jack McGill were artists, deeply in love when they married, until the rush of life took its toll. After ten years of marriage, they divorced and went their separate ways. Jack stayed in San Francisco. Rachel moved with their two young daughters to Big Sur.

Six years later, an alarming middle-of-the-night phone call demands that Jack put aside his own busy life and career as a leading architect to rush to his ex-wife's hospital bed. While she lies comatose, Jack maintains a bedside vigil and finds himself getting to know Rachel better than he ever did -- through their daughters, her friends, and, even more, through her art. Meanwhile, the beauty and grace of the Redwood canyon where she has made her home also work their own special alchemy upon Jack. He begins to see Rachel, his daughters, and the story of his marriage with new eyes.

Coast Road celebrates those things in life that matter most -- the kinship of neighbors, the companionship of friends, and the irreplaceable time spent with children and family. Barbara Delinsky depicts with exquisite accuracy the ties that bind each of us to those people and places we hold most dear.

480 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

890 people are currently reading
4473 people want to read

About the author

Barbara Delinsky

307 books4,356 followers
I was born and raised in suburban Boston. My mother’s death, when I was eight, was the defining event of a childhood that was otherwise ordinary. I took piano lessons and flute lessons. I took ballroom dancing lessons. I went to summer camp through my fifteenth year (in Maine, which explains the setting of so many of my stories), then spent my sixteenth summer learning to type and to drive (two skills that have served me better than all of my other high school courses combined). I earned a B.A. in Psychology at Tufts University and an M.A. in Sociology at Boston College. The motivation behind the M.A. was sheer greed. My husband was just starting law school. We needed the money.

Following graduate school, I worked as a researcher with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and as a photographer and reporter for the Belmont Herald. I did the newspaper work after my first son was born. Since I was heavily into taking pictures of him, I worked for the paper to support that habit. Initially, I wrote only in a secondary capacity, to provide copy for the pictures I took. In time, I realized that I was better at writing than photography. I used both skills doing volunteer work for hospital groups, and have served on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and on the MGH’s Women’s Cancer Advisory Board.

I became an actual writer by fluke. My twins were four when, by chance, I happened on a newspaper article profiling three female writers. Intrigued, I spent three months researching, plotting, and writing my own book - and it sold.

My niche? I write about the emotional crises that we face in our lives. Readers identify with my characters. They know them. They are them. I'm an everyday woman writing about everyday people facing not-so-everyday challenges.

My novels are character-driven studies of marriage, parenthood, sibling rivalry, and friendship, and I’ve been blessed in having readers who buy them eagerly enough to put them on the major bestseller lists. One of my latest, Sweet Salt Air, came out in 2013.  Blueprints, my second novel with St. Martin’s Press, became my 22nd New York Times bestselling novel soon after its release in June 2015.  Making Up, my work in progress, will be published in 2018.

2018? Yikes. I didn’t think I’d live that long. I thought I’d die of breast cancer back in the 1900's, like my mom. But I didn’t. I was diagnosed nearly twenty years ago, had surgery and treatment, and here I am, stronger than ever and loving having authored yet another book, this one the non-fiction Uplift: Secrets From the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors. First published in 2001, Uplift is a handbook of practical tips and upbeat anecdotes that I compiled with the help of 350 breast cancer survivors, their families and friends. These survivors just ... blew me away! They gave me the book that I wish I’d had way back when I was diagnosed. There is no medical information here, nothing frightening, simply practical advice from friends who’ve had breast cancer. The 10th Anniversary Volume of Uplift is now in print. And the money I’ve made on the book? Every cent has gone to my charitable foundation, which funds an ongoing research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Connect with me on Facebook: facebook.com/bdelinsky
Look for my photos on Instagram: instagram.com/barbaradelinsky

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 435 reviews
Profile Image for Mo.
1,404 reviews2 followers
August 3, 2020
This is my first time reading this author and I must say, I really enjoyed the book. Well written with great "older" characters. Jack and Rachel have been divorced for six years ... although I thought the premise of the separation and the divorce was a bit far-fetched - all happened too quickly to my mind. But that is neither here nor there as it did happen and it was in the past and this story is set further down the line.


"You're an insensitive shit, Jack. No wonder she divorced you."


Yikes! Rachel has some loyal friends ...

Jack rushes to Big Sur from San Francisco after Rachel is in a traffic accident and is in a coma. They have two teenage daughters (God bless any of you with teenage daughters, LOL. Not sure I would have been able to handle them - two boys were fine for me)!

"Does she have a favorite scent?"

"Lily of the valley."



Secondary characters were interesting. It is all a waiting game to see if Rachel will wake up ... and if she does, what will happen between her and Jack.




Great descriptions of Monterey and Carmel and Big Sur. I want to live there. I have visited it and would love to go back - probably in the season when there are fewer tourists (if that even exists in that part of the world)!

I will definitely check out more by this author and I do hope that some more of the books are about older characters ... they were only in their forties so not as ancient as me but better than a twenty something! Although one of the secondary characters was 53!

Profile Image for Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS).
1,905 reviews327 followers
May 26, 2018
Rachel Keats and Jack McGill had been divorced for six years when he got the call. She was in accident and at the hospital, would he come?

Bitter, Jack thought he would drive up from San Francisco -Rachel lived in Big Sur- settle his daughters, see that Rachel had everything she needed and return to his previous lifestyle. After all, she had left him once before. Except when he arrived she was in a coma.

Through painstaking flashbacks, Jack had time to reckon his marriage, career and relationships. He fought an uphill battle to reestablish a link with his daughters. He rehashed what were now seen as miscommunications between Rachel and himself. He saw the final years of his marriage in a different light all the while, traveling back and forth between the hospital, the girls’ schools and Rachel’s home.

Other readers pointed out the repetitioness and Jack’s friendship with Rachel’s best friend, Katherine, as obstacles. I never thought this. It was a cathartic journey for Jack, a brief time of growing up for his daughters and an eye-opening quickening that friendships are important.

I loved this story with all its emotions rising to the challenge. I was embedded in the romance from beginning to end. The closest I can compare this plot of a marriage-gone-wrong and second chances is Theresa Weir’s One Fine Day.
Profile Image for Amy.
Author 2 books160 followers
February 22, 2012
I have read a few Barbara Delinsky- and in the few I have read, admire her for taking on wounded women. Let me amend that and say: wounded but strong women. In this book, Rachel is in a coma. Her best friend Katherine is a breast cancer survivor. In other books, one was in a wheelchair from a snow mobile accident. Another had a near paralyzing stutter. A third escaped an abusive relationship to start anew. The men are realistic, too. It's refreshing to read "romance" or "women's fiction" where the heroine isn't 19 and perfectly formed, with a "fiery heart no man could tame" and the hero is not bronzed and sculpted- with searing kisses and penetrating blue eyes.

The real star of this book though, was Big Sur- an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful area of the country. There were several other things I especially liked about the book. Samantha, Rachel and Jack's 15 year old daughter carries with her a feeling of guilt, because of an argument she and her mom had just before her mother left and was in the accident. She keeps thinking that if she hadn't fought with her mom, she would have left on time and not been where she was when the accident occurred. I can't tell you how many times I've had a similar thought when driving down the road and seeing an accident or hearing about one later. (Except in my case it's "thank goodness I went back to do such and such! If I hadn't, I'd have been in that intersection when the semi lost control" or whatever.)

Another thing I loved was the description of Jack and the Girls at Samantha's special place, hiding in the redwoods to take shelter from a rainstorm. I liked the way the author used Guinevere, Duncan's Faith, and the pains of adolescence to help the characters grow. Finally, the use of art and spirit was a good metaphor. Rachel's art blossomed in Big Sur where her spirit healed and grew. Jack's art, and his architecture grew stale as he moved from what originally drew him to the field and away from the expression his soul craved. The collaboration in their art, and how Jack could learn of Rachel's thoughts through her drawings, when she was comatose...

And the subject of Rachel's paintings...I don't blame her for wanting to paint sea otters!
Profile Image for Barbara.
107 reviews3 followers
April 6, 2009
Very touching story that could happen to anyone in these times. Jack, husband and father, gets caught up in his career and his wife and daughters feel neglected to the extent that his wife leaves him. When Rachel is left comatose in a car accident Jack's life is turned upside down by having to face his responsibilities to his daughters. He soon discovers what is important in life . . . that being family, not career. I love the way he changes to be the father that his girls need and the husband that his wife needs. This author creates real people and real situations. I read this book in a couple of days because I couldn't put it down, then I was disappointed when it came to an end!
Profile Image for Nadia.
135 reviews1 follower
January 4, 2023
Nope. I just can't trust MMCs that are shitty fathers. Also, not sure how this can be classified as a romance when the FMC is in a coma for 98% of the book.

I was more interested in the side character's story.
Profile Image for Betsy.
53 reviews
April 2, 2011
Enjoying this. Can lend it to another Nook reader if anyone wants it.
Profile Image for Janelle Jansson.
84 reviews
January 11, 2015
I have read many Barbara Delinsky novels. This wasn't one of her best.

This will probably be my last Delinsky novel. I found many grammatical errors throughout the book. Wasn't impressed at all. I also found that many of her sentences were worded oddly, and didn't make sense.

Looking past the grammatical errors and oddly worded sentences, the plot was ok. Nothing special. I feel like Rachel's coma was dragged on a little too long. I also think her ex-husband, Jack, was a snob. I feel like the book focused more on Jack and Katherine (Rachel's best friend) than anything or anyone else. It didn't make a lot of sense.

I wouldn't recommend this book at all.
Profile Image for Marca.
1,047 reviews
February 26, 2014
First world problems sap-fest. Lots of repetition as to what the characters are thinking, as if we listening to their minds mull things over and over and over. Jack McGill’s ex-wife Rachel is injured in an auto accident and he moves into her house in Big Sur to care for his two daughters until Rachel recovers. He meets with lots of hostile resistance from one of their daughters and Rachel’s friends. “But she left me!” is the oft-repeated mantra. Every day that Jack has to stay in Big Sur costs him money (his business is in San Francisco), but what can he do? Predictable romance story, but I enjoyed listening. (What is wrong with me! I used to hate Romances, but have read several lately.) I especially enjoyed the storyline of the teen daughter who was oh-so entitled and determined to have her way with everything.
Profile Image for Kim.
479 reviews1 follower
February 12, 2015
When all you have to do is drive all day, you listen to audio books! Was in the car a lot today and I spent it listening to Coast Road by Barbara Delinsky. The book was a good novel, and it ended unlike how I thought it would, which is always good. The struggles of a divorced family that makes it way back to each other and all the inbetween of a car accident besides. I was hoping Jack would make his way back into their lives.....you'll have to read it to find out!
Profile Image for Stacy.
889 reviews1 follower
January 9, 2016
What went wrong? As Jack waits at the bedside of his comatose ex-wife, he has a lot of time to reflect on his relationships. He learns more about Rachel from his daughters and her friends.

Will Rachel recover? Can this family be brought back together?

I found the characters and situations to be believable, if not predictable. I loved the descriptions about Big Sur and its lush scenery.
Profile Image for Joy Marie Blasco.
5 reviews18 followers
April 27, 2015
This is one of the best books I have ever read. Right after reading this, I vowed to myself that I will start collecting Delinsky's books.
Though the plot seemed predictable but the way she presents the story made it a page turner. I woke up 2 AM just to finish reading this book, and yeah, it was worth it. I just can't stop myself from crying. Deslinsky has a superb way of making you feel like you are in the shoes of the main character,
Profile Image for Maria.
189 reviews14 followers
January 27, 2019
Really Loved This Book. Coast Road Celebrates those things in life that matter most. The Kinship of neighbors, the companionship of Friends, and the irreplaceable time spent with children and family. In this masterful new novel, Barbara Delinsky depicts with exquisite accuracy the ties that bind each of us to those. People and places we hold most dear. I Highly Recommend This Book. ❤️💝💙
Profile Image for Dyana.
833 reviews
November 22, 2024
I devoured this book. I usually give a high rating to books that make me cry, and this one had me in tears more than once. Jack McGill is an architect and Rachel Keats is an artist. They have been divorced for six years. Rachel left because Jack, in climbing the corporate ladder, spent too much time traveling and neglecting his family and responsibilities at home. She also felt her art was stifled in the city. So Rachel packs up her two daughters and moves to Big Sur while Jack remains in San Francisco.

One night he receives a phone call saying his wife has been in a car accident. He rushes to her side and discovers she is in a coma. He prepares to stay by her side as long as necessary and care for his two daughters, Samantha (15) and Hope (13). In doing so he discovers a whole new side to his wife. He discovers this through the many friends who show up at the hospital, her amazing art which has blossomed since she left him, and through Katherine, Rachel's best friend. He must also traverse cautiously through the pains of adolescence and teenage problems with his daughters. Samantha is belligerent towards him while Hope is caring for her dying cat, Guinevere and needs her mother. Jack must step in and become the father that he never was before. He realizes that he doesn't really know his wife and daughters at all.

Jack avoids his partner at work and comes to understand that he is dissatisfied with his job and that he doesn't really love his girl friend. Then he discovers the "real" reason Rachel left him and that he misread a situation that he had no clue existed. He begins to ponder about family, work, and what matters most in life. He also realizes that he never stopped loving Rachel. What if she never wakes up from the coma - he will never learn how she really feels about him?

This book was written in Jack's point of view. The author uses "richly textured, colorful, and poignant" descriptions of the area around Big Sur and fleshes out each character so we truly get to know them. A very good read.
1,838 reviews1 follower
January 25, 2016
Not a romance novel but close. It mainly deals with relationships. Between friends, spouses, kids, and the rest of the world. In this one, a husband becomes a self realized man. A fiction... but with hope that some men can actually get it! It has some nice hopeful things and the main theme is love.
7 reviews1 follower
August 15, 2011
I thought this was a good book from the male perspective even though the main character was in a coma for the entire book. Even though I kind of knew where it was headed, it was nice to get a different view of the struggles of the family.
526 reviews
March 19, 2016
One of my favorite books! I read it over and over again. I just love that it is told mainly from the man's point of view and the amount of growth that he goes through during the book.
197 reviews
September 20, 2014
Perhaps I should have given this book four stars as I found myself wanting to get back to it but it is a bit predictable so even though I enjoyed it I knew what was coming.
Profile Image for Kirsten Feldman.
Author 3 books80 followers
July 20, 2021
Somehow, even though the ending was a forgone conclusion, Jack’s story—and by extension Rachel’s—compelled. Art versus commerce waged a valiant battle, though this conclusion was obvious too. Katherine’s side story never felt brushed over. Delinsky also did a good job with two teenagers, Samantha and Hope, not easy, and not the same. The Pacific Northwest shines, a reminder of what we stand to lose with the fires.
Profile Image for Mandy.
96 reviews
October 16, 2024
This book fell on my floor, so I picked it up and read it. Why I waited so long ( well, I have about 100 more books here to read, also lol).

I loved the book. I laughed, cried, laughed some more, and cried some more.

The way Jack was positioned to really think about his life, what had happened, where he messed up, what he really wanted. I love the way Jack got to learn about his wife through their kids, her friends, neighbors, and others. He also got to learn about his daughters and form that bond that he'd been missing.

It was an emotional book and, in my opinion, beautifully written.
Profile Image for Judy Churchill.
2,567 reviews31 followers
July 6, 2018
Wow. This is a thoughtful, sensitive study of love and family. How many relationships die from sheer neglect. How often does this happen by accident. When Rachel ends up in a coma after an auto accident, Jack comes to assess damage and take care of his two daughters. After sitting at Rachel’s bedside for 16 days before she wakes up, Jack realizes he’s still deeply in love with his ex-wife. It’s a tender post mortem on their marriage and a hopeful new beginning. I recommend this book.
Profile Image for Tana.
166 reviews
March 25, 2017
One thing I learned from this novel is: Don't take life for granted. Things change in a flash. Life and Love is precious. Don't waste it. Its told by a husband point of view. Good read.
Profile Image for Roxanne Pastel.
11 reviews
June 23, 2025
Don’t jump to conclusions. Barbara Delinsky writes emotional processing so well, it’s like a guidebook to navigating your late 20’s-30’s. Not the cheesy romantic story you’d expect. Filled with depth and longing for purpose.
Profile Image for Mariana.
302 reviews13 followers
June 23, 2023
Вярно е, че сюжета не блести с оригиналност нито пък финала е неочакван, но въпреки това книгата ми хареса.
Това е книга, която още веднъж те кара да се замислиш кои са важните неща в живота. Не е нещо, което човек не знае, но пък е хубаво някой да ни напомня от време на време.
Profile Image for Syn.
8 reviews
April 7, 2023
I like the story. It's all about human emotions and feelings. Romanticism in a way is very touching. Choice of words are very good, anyone can read it fast. A little lengthy, I would say. Few characters, could have been skipped, but overall I liked the story. Thanks.
Profile Image for Charlotte.
31 reviews
August 6, 2017
I liked Coast Road a lot.The thing about Delinsky is that she writes about every-day people in a simple, true way that is impossible not to understand. This book had a wide variety of characters surrounding Rachel´s coma. Jack is her ex-husband, who chose his career over his marriage six years prior to Rachel´s accident on the coast road, but he hasn´t been happy since the divorce. Katherine is her BFF, an amazing woman with a story of her own. Samantha and Hope are Jack and Rachel´s daughters, who still live with their parents´ divorce in mind.Steve Brauer is a nice doctor with a crush on Katherine (reciprocate, too). Throughout the book, Jack meets Rachel´s friends and discovers some of the reasons why his marriage ended in divorce. He sees more of Rachel´s work and he begins to understand her in a new way. This book also focused on the strain a coma can bring to a family, but also other subjects like breast cancer and teenage problems.
What kept me reading was the fact that I wanted Rachel to wake up from her coma to reconcile with Jack. The beggining was smooth, the ending beautiful. Big Sur was a well chosen spot for the story´s background. Faith Bligh was an interesting character, too. Another thing you'll notice in this author is that she usually has lawyers, architects, writers and artists as the main character´s professions. In this novel, Jack is a workaholic architect and Rachel is a painter. Most of her current novels have an epilogue, but not Coast Road-sure,the ending was clear but I would have liked to read of Jack re-marrying and moving to Big Sur.
Don´t miss this New York Times bestseller by Barbara Delinsky, and the story of how a tricky coast road but a marriage back in order, and the happiness of a family as well!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 435 reviews

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