The Meryl Streep Movie Club

Two sisters and the cousin they grew up with after a tragedy are summoned home to their family matriarch’s inn on the coast of Maine for a shocking announcement. Suddenly, Isabel, June, and Kat are sharing the attic bedroom—and barely speaking. But when innkeeper Lolly asks them to join her and the guests in the parlor for weekly Movie Night—it’s Meryl Streep month—they find themselves sharing secrets, talking long into the night . . . and questioning everything they thought they knew about life, love, and one another.

Each woman sees her complicated life reflected through the magic of cinema: Isabel’s husband is having an affair, and an old pact may keep her from what she wants most . . . June has promised her seven-year-old son that she will somehow find his father, who he’s never known . . . and Kat is ambivalent about accepting her lifelong best friend’s marriage pro­posal. Through everything, Lolly has always been there for them, and now Isabel, June, Kat—and Meryl—must be there for her. Finding themselves. Finding each other. Finding a happy ending.

My thoughts...

This is a book about two sisters, their cousin and aunt who run The Three Captains Inn. The four are not close and they only see each other a couple times a year except for cousin Kat and her mom, Lolly, who run the Inn.

Lolly is a huge fan of movies and selects different actors and/or themes throughout the year for her friends and guests to enjoy. This is Meryl Streep season. Each movie they see encourages the women to talk about their own problems, most of which are depicted in the movies.

Lolly is dying of pancreatic cancer and calls the sisters to the Inn so that she can make an announcement in person. The result is an entertaining read, mostly interesting. I found the storyline a bit slow at times. There is a lot of secrets and hurts that come out, healing comes as well. Good characters, several handsome men are waiting in the background while the women work things out.

One of the sisters, Isabel, learns her husband is having an affair and shortly after getting to the Inn gets involved with a guest. I don't feel she had time to heal from the breakup before jumping into a relationship.

June has a child by a man she fell in love with in an hour, spent two days with him before he disappears and she never hears from him again. When the child starts asking questions about his dad while working on a family tree June decides to search for him. She discovers she's been in love with another man for quite some time and just never realized it.

Kat accepts a marriage proposal from a long time friend, is attracted to an intern working at the hospital and learns a secret about her mother that gets her to thinking about what she really wants to do with her life.

Overall, a light summer read even though it deals with a lot of tough issues such as cancer, death, betrayal, etc. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

I received a copy of this book free from Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review.