Book (Mama) Review: Little Island

By Marlene Engel

All of the members of the Little Family are meeting up at the family owned Inn for the memorial service of their late grandmother. After her passing, a note was found that read … Grace. Flowers. By the Water. Have fun! They took this note to be instructions of how the grandmother wanted her service to be held. But no one is overly excited about the little reunion that is about to take place. With each family member dealing with their own issues, this is about the last thing that they want to be doing. Not to mention, it’s on the anniversary of a life altering event that happened twenty years ago. An event that almost destroyed the family.

Joy’s son just left for college and she is already suffering from empty nest syndrome. Trying to alter the pain from emotional to physical, she starts self-mutilating. An even that she has done in the past. Her twin siblings, Tamar and Roger, are going through some personal issues as well. Tamar is having a hard time juggling all that she has going on in her life, a marriage that isn’t going well and not being the involved parent that her husband is. While Roger is struggling with sobriety, he is constantly trying to come up with the next great money making idea. Then there’s their parents, Grace and Gar. Grace is trying her hardest to get everyone together for a nice weekend, but knows that the chances of having a stress free weekend isn’t likely. Gar is suffering from some memory loss and tends to be spacey at times. But the weekend together may be just what they all need to bond as a family without the outside distractions of others.

From the first page, this book had a strong grip on me and didn’t let go until the very last page. The emotional struggles, personal issues and family drama had me wanting to know what was going to happen next. I really loved Little Island. It was brilliantly written with such true to life characters. Katharine Britton has a life-long fan in me. I can’t say enough wonderful things about this book. I would definitely recommend it to others and can’t wait to see what she has in store for us (readers) in the future!

Thanks to BookSparks PR for the book in exchange for an honest review. As part of their Baker's Dozen, they paired this novel with a hearty vegetable chowder recipe.

Marlene Engel is the owner of Book Mama Blog, which is our sister blog. Visit her there to get to know her, read reviews, enter contests and learn about free e-books.

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