Moon Island

by Rosie Thomas

On a small stretch of untamed coast, five old clapboard houses gaze out to sea. Fourteen-year-old May Duhane, arriving with her father and sister for the summer, feels isolated and resentful.


Leonie Beam, staying in the neighbouring house with her husband's family, shares May's isolation for she is unhappy in her marriage. She confides in Elizabeth Newton, an aging widow who keeps the beach's secrets.


Meanwhile, May has discovered the diary of a dead girl, her own age. To unravel its story, she must immerse herself in the past. As she does so, she begins to feel she is destined to follow in the dead girl's footsteps.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Contemporary, Drama, Novels

460 pages, Paperback

First published July 6, 1998

About the author

Janey King, née Morris was born on 1947 in Denbigh, Wales, and also grew up in North Wales. She read English at Oxford, and after a spell in journalism and publishing began writing fiction after the birth of her first child. Published since 1982 as Rosie Thomas, she has written fourteen best-selling novels, deal with the common themes of love and loss. She is one of only a few authors to have won twice the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association, in 1985 with Sunrise, and in 2007 with Iris and Ruby.

Janey is an adventurer and once she was established as a writer and her children were grown, she discovered a love of travelling and mountaineering. She has climbed in the Alps and the Himalayas, competed in the Peking to Paris car rally, spent time on a tiny Bulgarian research station in Antarctica and travelled the silk road through Asia. She currently lives in London.

Reviews

[Jean St.Amand]

The first half of this book was so melancholy and depressing, I didn't expect to get to the point of actually enjoying it but the last half was better...still not a happy story by any stretch of the imagination but not as thoroughly depressing as the first half.

[Liz Muir]

Lots of rarely happy characters, alive, dead and as ghosts. I found much of the description excessive, something which usually makes me abandon a book however this one I did read to the end.

[Carol Sandford]

Good, absorbing read set in a small holiday community that has seen its fair share of tragedy, love, loss, discovery, and peace. Enjoyed it

[Carol]

The best Rosie Thomas I've read so far. This book stays with you. Very atmospheric. I love this one and also Sun at Midnight.

[Cardmaker]

I will say that I liked the idea for the story the author told; however, if she's going to write about Americans, she should have an American proofreader to correct her many errors in wording. Americans don't talk like the people in this book did.

Secondly, she should learn how to wrap up an ending. The book should have ended a good 60-70 pages earlier than it did. It just kept dragging on and on and on.

Otherwise, a good read. So, if you can overlook those things, you'll probably rate it higher than a 3 star rating. I did like the story.

One more thing which I can't ignore ... she should keep her rude opinions to herself about overweight women. Example, "A woman who should have refused the temptation accepted the plate..." when she was talking about the yearly fair and one of the men who was cooking blueberry pancakes with cream. Her nasty comment added nothing to the story line.

[Susan Grimshaw]

An intriguing story detailing the lives of five families living in five adjacent houses apart from other dwellings on the New England coast. One house is permanently occupied, three belong to families who spend the summer there and one is a holiday let. John Duhane, a widower, and his two teenage daughters rent this house for their summer vacation. The younger daughter, May, still distraught from losing her mother finds the diary of a girl her own age who drowned the previous summer whilst staying in the same house. May begins to identify with the dead girl... There is plenty of suspense and mystery, but the story rather fizzles out in the end.

[MadRead]

A tale set in a small seaside town in New Engand where a recently bereaved family rent a holiday home. The story centres around a previous tragedy and the lives of the locals. It is a collaboration of two interwoven rather dark stories. But well written and you can empathise with a family all dealing with the bereavement in their own way.

[Ann]

I found this book quite depressing and pointless! It doesn't seem to have any redeeming features, no one is happy. There are several strands and time zones to this story, all of which are sad and depressing, death, adultery, betrayal and abuse.

It takes a skill to make a lovely seaside village so sad and depressing, I love the coast but I wouldn't want to go to Pittsharbour!

[Agnes Stanley]

I didn't care for the drawn out tale of the book May was reading or Elizabeth's life and countless family members. Less is more, especially all the different parts squeezed into each chapter. It became tedious and I couldn't wait to finally finish the book.

[emmie🔥]

i couldn’t even finish this book it was so depressing, i kept waiting for it to become happy and just as i thought it was it became sad again, however i cannot advice you to look upon the book differently because of my review as i didn’t even finish it so really who am i to say.

[Patti]

Interesting book about a beach community in a small town in Maine. Part ghost story, part mystery, it held my interest and was a quick read.

[Cheryll]

Not gripping... an ok read...

[Cecile Paddle]

I enjoyed this story of so many lives, very much.

[Hayley Hartwell]

It’s a good book, it’s got lots of characters and can be a bit slow at points, it’s good if you like a bit of mystery and information to take a while to leak. Slow burn!

[mukhmo]

Not upset that the book is depressing, but the plot didn’t stick out to me that much. It’s still an okay read, i enjoyed some aspects.

[Eeman Sahar]

Sooooooooooo overwhelming and bewitching. There are many stories going on within a single novel. It has smoothly depicted the idea that how our lives are affected by others....

[Anna]

John Duhane takes his daughters, 14 year old May and 17 year old Ivy, to spend the summer at a beach house on a small stretch of untamed Maine coast, one of a row of five old clapboard houses. Beautiful Ivy soon integrates herself with the younger members of the extended Beam family who holiday there every year, but May is still struggling to come to terms with her mother’s sudden death four years before. She finds the hidden diary of a girl her age who died the previous year, and becomes convinced she is following in her footsteps. The book tells the story of all the families who are staying in the beach homes, all of whom are linked in some way, and as the summer unfolds, so do the stories of the past and the tales of a ghost on Moon Island. Meanwhile John is becoming friendly with Leonie Beam who is tired of spending every summer with her husband’s family. To add to this mix we get passages from an old book May is reading, a book which had also been read by the dead girl. Although Moon Island was written in 1998 it does not seem dated, apart from the lack of mobile phones which probably would have ruined the plot. I found the various different stories running through the book were all interesting and liked the way the story unfolded. The passages from the Whaling Book were harrowing but the reason for them becomes apparent. A good read.

[Bowerbird]

I don't think this is one of her best books, but I did enjoy reading it. As this Christmas approaches, a ghost story seems an appropriate read although it is set on a beach and most of it during the summer season. But it does end with snow! It is also a coming-of-age story which can be a difficult time for even the most well-balanced teenager. May finds it more painful than most. Her mother has died and the rest of her family are so wrapped up in their own ways of grieving that she feels she has no-one to confide in.

[Carinya Kappler]

Moon Island by Rosie Thomas is a fascinating read about a tiny beachside community in Maine where lives are lived both permanently and by annual holiday makers. Widower John arrives with his two daughters Ivy and May for a much needed holiday break. They are swept into the annual celebrations, included in the community events and listen to the folklore of departed souls. What a fabulous adventure.
Carinya
Re read February 2022 Still a very entertaining adventure filled romance!!

[Elizabeth Barter]

I read this novel, a couple of years ago,I remember it, because I identified with May. As a teenager,I also had the same active imagination.I envied my older sisters , because of the ease they had, adapting to new situations.It's a beach read that I enjoyed enough , to read a second time.

[Jennifer Hazlett]

I enjoyed getting to know all the characters who were quite a varied cast. There are some sad overtones to the story and I was pleased that the drama helped to unravel the back stories & provided empathy for the characters. A decent summer beach read.

[Anne]

Loved reading the bits about the whaling.

[Pauline]

A slow paced read. Good read but nothing special.

[Jen]

I've never read this author, the cover caught my eye. This was a pretty good book.

[Angie]

Interesting - not my usual read, but I enjoyed it.

[Aaron Loudermilk]

This book held my attention throughout, though when I look back on it there is nothing substantial in the plot. I liked it, though. Just not sure how I would explain the book to someone else.

[Biddy]

This was a nice read. A light plot but the characters and situations made it stronger.

[Vicki]

A great read... Read on a long haul flight and finished it in one go! Definitely not her best (the Kashmir shawl is) but easy reading and enjoyable.

[Linda Lilley]

Loved it. Will now read some more of hers.

[Deborah Ozmer Diaz]

It was a good read, a bit predictable. The connections between the characters were well written. I enjoyed the book as a back yard summer book!