The Beach Trees by Karen White is a novel of love, family, and the endurance of both friendship and life. Karen White is one of my favorite authors and in my opinion she is a wonderful writer and creator of beautiful stories. In The Beach Trees we travel to Biloxi, Mississippi which had been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina but is being painstakingly rebuilt by people with a lot of hope and faith.
Julie Holt has had her share of tragedy in her life. At the young age of twelve her sister is taken while Julie is supposed to be watching her. Julie has spent her life searching for Chelsea; it has consumed her. She simply can’t believe Chelsea is really gone; as long as there is no body, there is still hope that she may be found or come home. Now Julie is heading to Biloxi to a beach house left to her by her late friend Monica. Along with that beach house Monica also left her five year old son Beau to Julie.
Julie arrives to find that the beach house no longer exists. It had been destroyed by Katrina. She is devastated and has no idea what to do next. Monica had told her to see Ray Von, an elderly woman who gives her a portrait that Julie’s own great-grandfather had painted and that is worth a lot of money. She tells her to take Beau to New Orleans to meet Beau’s great-grandmother Aimee and that she can be sure of a place to stay there.
Julie dreads the meeting as she will have to tell Aimee and Monica’s brother Trey that she has passed away but she knows that both Beau and his family deserve to know each other. As she expected they are devastated but at least now they know what happened to Monica after she disappeared. They are thrilled to have a piece of Monica though in Beau and encourage Julie to stay. Julie takes to Aimee right away and vice versa. Trey however is another story. He and Monica were very close and he is hurt and angry but as Julie and Trey begin to rebuild the beach house called River Song, they discover that they have much more in common than they thought.
The story itself is told alternately through the viewpoints of Aimee from the 1950’s and Julie in the present. As Julie and Aimee spend more time together, the story will switch to the past as Aimee tells Julie what had gone on. As the stories progress, they begin to come closer and closer to just why Monica felt the need to leave her home and never come back or stay in contact with anyone. All the while Julie is becoming closer to both Aimee and Trey and beginning to think that maybe making a home for Beau and herself at River Song when it’s rebuilt isn’t such a bad idea. Julie has been running away from commitment her whole life because she’s so scared that anything and everything can be taken away at a moment’s notice but maybe now she’s ready to settle down.
The Beach Trees is a fantastic story! I love the way Karen White weaves a mystery in with her stories and I really enjoyed watching this story unfold and learning all the family secrets that had laid buried for so many years. I loved the characters especially Julie and Aimee. I felt they were both such caring women and I was just really drawn to them. I always enjoy the way Karen White describes the setting; complete with sights and smells. She makes sure the reader feels as though they are there experiencing everything her characters are. The Beach Trees is a novel that will capture your heart and your attention and keep you reading way into the wee hours of the morning!
I read The Beach Trees by Karen White for her book tour with TLC Book Tours. You can visit the other tour stops here. You can find out more about Karen White by visiting her website as well as becoming a fan on Facebook. Your own copy of The Beach Trees by Karen White can be purchased here in the US and here in Canada.
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My copy of The Beach Trees by Karen White was received for review from TLC Book Tours and the Publisher. 
White definitely has a way about her, a southern charm with her books. It always amazes me that as busy as she is, with dog, husband, kids and everything, she STILL just cranks out all of these wonderful books. I can't wait to read this one.
I've never read her but your description and the cover make me interested.
Great picture of Sammy! My son at one time had a girlfriend with a small black dog and it was so hard to get decent pictures of him.
Hope you're feeling better!
I read a book by White last year and I remember liking it. I'm going to add this one to my TBR list so thanks for the review!
Sounds really good and I know by now, if you really liked it – I will too!
I have really loved some of the other books I have read by Karen White, and think that this one sounds excellent as well. I really loved this review and want to add this book to my wish list right away after having read it. Thanks Dar!
I'm glad to see you liked this! I'll be going to an event for Karen White next week and plan to buy it.
This is going on my must-read-this-summer list. I have loved some of Karen White's past books so I ma sure to love this one. Thanks Dar!
Sounds really good, thanks! for sharing.
Wonderful review Dar 🙂
Sounds like another good book, and I do want more fiction
I got lucky and a copy of this one should be coming to my door soon. Sounds like another excellent read by White!!
I discovered Karen White in the last couple of years and look forward to this book.
I have only read her Tradd Street books, but I know that I would enjoy the other books she has written whenever I get around to reading them!
This does sound very good. I love it when a book has me reading into the wee hours of the morning 😉
Sounds like another great Karen White book. I'm definitely going to have to pick this one up!
This is the first fictional novel I've heard of that includes a reference to Hurricane Katrina … I'm sure there are others out there but they haven't crossed my radar.
Sounds like this would be a great weekend read! Thanks for being on the tour.
I still haven't read anything by Karen White; need to fix that someday. And this one sounds good!
Glad to see you loved this book as much as I did! Great review!
I will have to pick this book up to read. I have never read anything by Karen White. She sounds like an author I would like. By the way, what of dog is your little Sammy. I just lost one of my goldens and was looking at a Havenese. Dogs add so much to our lives!
Sandy,
I agree. She's got so much going on her life and yet she can come up with all these great concepts for novels. I really envy that!
Linda,
I think you'd enjoy Karen White's writing style. If you ever do give one of her books a try I'd be curious to see what you think.
Mary,
We do seem to like a lot of the same books! lol. I think this one would be one you'd enjoy.
Kathy,
I'm always so envious of all the authors you get to meet. I'd love to meet Karen!
Brenda,
Thanks for stopping by my blog. Sammy is a Havanese and he's a sweetie. You're right, dogs add so very much to our lives!
I love how Karen White weaves a mystery into her story but it's not the only thing happening in the story. This book really interests me because of the focus on New Orleans and the impact of Katrina. It seems that months after a tragic occurrence like Katrina people unintentionally forget about it as life goes on yet, more than a year later victims of Katrina are still rebuilding their life and their city. The Beach Trees serves as a reminder packaged in a captivating story. I'm so glad you enjoyed it! The Beach Trees is already on my tbr list!