Boiler Beach

by Peter Tiernan

Boiler Beach is a novel about a fictional beach community on the Canadian shores of Lake Huron. Tommy McTavish is fighting for his life. Against the forces of nature tearing down his century-old cottage. Against a town that won't let him forget an infamous offense. Against an old gang of friends who seem to have become adversaries. Against the alcohol-infused demons that weigh him down. All that keeps him from succumbing to despair are an unlikely discovery about origins of his beach community, a new generation of cottagers with bigger troubles than his, and the slightest chance that he might somehow find love and absolution.

417 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Michael MacBride · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pete Tiernan's Boiler Beach is equal parts: eco-mystery, Breakfast Club, Stand By Me, and The Big Chill. The teenagers who once spent summers in the beach community around the titular beach, are now adults, grappling with ghosts of their past, wrestling with mid-life crisises, and trying to reconcile how to maintain the beach community with the realities of change and progress. All these struggles are embodied in Tommy McTavish (the protagonist), but also are present in each of the equally strong supporting characters.

Tiernan draws heavily from his own experiences at the real Boiler Beach (Bruce Beach) and expertly weaves in historical figures, lost and forgotten historical moments, and creates a realistic fictionalized world where this all could plausibly happen. Not to mention a craving for the magical tarts and Wendy O'Shea's secret recipe. The novel is comedic, heart-felt, and particularly resonates with anyone who has been part of a small town (beach or otherwise) where everyone knows one another and their secrets.

[Gretchen Kennard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tiernan’s Boiler Beach is a journey through the evolution of friendships made by Tommy McTavish, the protagonist, during visits every summer to Boiler Beach on Lake Huron. Based on his real-life experiences on Boiler Beach, the author skillfully weaves a tapestry of McTavish’s relationships with fellow cottagers, alternating between his adult and teen years. The book begins with McTavish’s adult life on the beach, with details of the complex underlying history with his cadre of friends slowly unfolding, contributing to the book’s captivating quality. Humor, especially over countless anagrams created from McTavish’s block-letter business sign, descriptions of shared teen escapades, and past and current traumatic events that force an admission of true feelings among them combine to make this book a fascinating read that can resonate with any reader.

[Larry Willoughby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading this excellent book. The author blends the years of teenage friendships with adult consequences some 30 years later. He creates vivid characters and has an excellent style to describe the resort town of Kincardine on Lake Huron. Knowing the local area I could easily visualize all the locales but this would not matter to the reader as the background is so thorough you can easily picture it. Through out the 400+ pages he winds back and forth in time slowly piecing together for the reader a number of subplots. The reader will be surprised with some of the twists and turns he provides through out the novel. An excellent book which can easily translate on the basic theme of teenage relationships changing over the years into adulthood.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. A lot of plots and subplots. The authors writing style is very easy to read and his choice of words does an excellent job painting a picture of the scene in your mind. Not having chapters took some getting used to, but I think it helped to keep the story together similarly as when you watch a movie. There are many characters in the book and the list at the beginning of who’s helped especially when starting out as the story takes off quickly. Thanks Pete for an entertaining read!

[Susan Neely · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book to read. It brought back many childhood memories of my summers spent at our cottage at Bruce Beach.