Life's a Beach

New York Times Bestseller! Chosen as a best summer read by People, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, and Good Morning America!



Life’s a bit of a beach these days for Ginger Walsh, who finds herself single at 41 and back home living in the family FROG (finished room over the garage) in the fictional town of Marshbury. She’s spent a few too many years in sales, and is hoping for a more fulfilling life as a sea glass artist, but instead is babysitting her sister’s kids and sharing overnights with Noah, her sexy glassblower boyfriend with commitment issues and a dog Ginger’s cat isn’t too crazy about. You can almost smell the salt air as you take this rollicking ride.

“Midlife love, laughter, sibling rivalry and self-discovery . . . Goes down as easy as it sounds.”—People Magazine


“A gleefully quirky coming-of-age story.”—Redbook


“Laugh-out-loud” — Good Housekeeping


“A funny page-turner.” —Fort Worth Star-Telegram


“Claire Cook has an original voice, a sparkling style, and a window into family life that will make you laugh and cry. Life’s a Beach is filled with hilarity, sister love and sister hate, juicy arguments and hard-won reconciliations, but most of all, heart.”—Adriana Trigiani



“Life's a Beach is a delicious coming-of-age novel—about two forty-something sisters who don't quite manage that feat until it's almost too late. I devoured this slice of family life served up in Claire Cook's inimitably warm and witty style. Tender, touching, and terribly, terribly, funny!”—Mary Kay Andrews


“If I had a sister, I'd want her to be Claire Cook. If I had a summer, I'd want it to be the summer that two sisters sparred over everything from fertility to photography to family. And if I could follow up the wry, wacky poignancy of Must Love Dogs with any book, it would be Life's a Beach. Claire Cook is wicked good.”—Jacquelyn Mitchard



“Claire Cook’s smart, delightful new book made me laugh on the first page and on every single page all the way through — even when it also made me cry. True, tender, insightful, and hilarious — I loved it.”—Pamela Redmond Satran

“Claire Cook has given us a heroine you’ll cheer for and a book you won’t be able to put down. I loved it.”—Karen Quinn

“Cook’s poignancy and sassy humor resonate with readers; her theme of reinvention uplifts and inspires.” —Savannah Magazine


“A beach tote couldn’t ask for more.”—Kirkus



“Perfect-for-the-beach summer novel. . . a bumpy delight.”—Boston Common



“As always, Cook's delightful way with dialogue and her deft demonstrations of how family members manage to support one another even while driving each other crazy, make reading this book a day at the beach.”—Hartford Courant



“The exuberant and charming Claire Cook is one of the sassiest and funniest creators of contemporary women’s fiction.”—The Times-Picayune


“Claire Cook (Must Love Dogs) has built a brand writing light-hearted women’s fiction blending kernels of the absurd and comedic in compulsively readable combinations.”—Shelf Awareness

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