I often wonder where authors come up with ideas for their books. Sometimes you find an interview with the author and you get a behind the scenes look at the process. Debbie Macomber says, “An idea will pop into my head and I’ll run with it. ‘A Walk Along the Beach’ is the exception. This story is personal.” And a great story it is.
The story is about two sisters, Willa and Harper. When Willa was only 13 years old, their mother suddenly died from a brain aneurism. Willa took over the household when her father went into a deep depression and began drinking heavily. Not only did she take on the responsibility of helping her father and running the household, she took care of her older brother, Lucas, and her younger sister, Harper.
When Lucas graduated high school he enlisted in the Army and left Willa to look after Harper. Although the sisters were very close, the girls were complete opposites. Harper was outgoing, adventurous and popular while Willa was mature, responsible and reclusive.
Right after high school Harper came down with a bad case of hives. After running several tests the doctors diagnosed her with leukemia. Lucas changed his plans to reenlist in the military and came home to help and Willa barely completed her business classes and continued to run her coffee shop. Seeing his youngest child suffer with such an awful disease only made their father drink more. But Harper fought the ugly disease and beat it. The cancer was gone and Harper promised to follow up with routine checkups.
Life went on. Lucas remained in the area and met Chantelle. Both Harper and Willa adored Chantelle and loved when they could all get together to visit. Their father began attending AA meetings and was learning to live life sober.
Willa’s coffee business was a huge success. Willa loved baking the special treats that everyone bought to go with their favorite coffees. She also loved getting to know the customers that stopped in everyday. She found Sean, a photographer that had recently moved to the area, especially interesting.
Following her recovery from cancer, Harper jumped back into life with a new appreciation for living. She taught yoga classes at a local gym and was a favorite with her students. She also took on new challenges like bungee jumping. Her most recent adventure was training to climb Mount Rainier with a group of friends.
With every new escapade that Harper sought, Willa worried. She had practically raised Harper and took care of her while she was sick. Often times Willa felt like a mother to Harper and the crazy decisions that Harper was now making scared Willa. Although she had no reason to think that her cancer could come back, Willa wished that Harper would take better care of herself. The constant worry put a strain on their relationship.
At the beginning of this book, Macomber gives us a little description of how this story came to be. Debbie had lost a very close friend to cancer and had decided to take a year off from writing to mourn her loss. As she began reflecting on their friendship, Debbie realized that secluding herself wouldn’t be what her friend would want her to do. Instead she wrote a story about love, cancer, loss and moving forward.
Even if you don’t usually cry over a book, this one will tug on your heartstrings. This is a good story to read as October and Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to an end.
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“A Walk Along the Beach” shows author’s personal touch| Book review - Journal Advocate
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