The Book:
The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley
Published May 25th 2021 by Berkley
Date read: July 15, 2021
The Characters:
Piper and her husband Tom
Anders
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Piper Parrish’s life on Frick Island—a tiny, remote town smack in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay—is nearly perfect. Well, aside from one pesky detail: Her darling husband, Tom, is dead. When Tom’s crab boat capsized and his body wasn’t recovered, Piper, rocked to the core, did a most peculiar thing: carried on as if her husband was not only still alive, but right there beside her, cooking him breakfast, walking him to the docks each morning, meeting him for their standard Friday night dinner date at the One-Eyed Crab. And what were the townspeople to do but go along with their beloved widowed Piper?
Anders Caldwell’s career is not going well. A young ambitious journalist, he’d rather hoped he’d be a national award-winning podcaster by now, rather than writing fluff pieces for a small-town newspaper. But when he gets an assignment to travel to the remote Frick Island and cover their boring annual Cake Walk fundraiser, he stumbles upon a much more fascinating tale: an entire town pretending to see and interact with a man who does not actually exist. Determined it’s the career-making story he’s been needing for his podcast, Anders returns to the island to begin covert research and spend more time with the enigmatic Piper—but he has no idea out of all the lives he’s about to upend, it’s his that will change the most.
The Twist:
The “Tom” that Piper was talking to was a cat. The other islanders had picked up on it, pretended for her, but she knew Tom wasn’t there and didn’t want to tell them since everyone seemed to enjoy the ruse. She wasn’t crazy.
The Review:
I read this one a while ago, but I’m only just getting caught up on reviews. I adored The Invisible Husband of Frick Island. It was the perfect summer read that made me really want an island vacation. I was picturing Martha’s Vineyard while I read the book, but Frick Island is actually based on Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay. I definitely want to visit!
It’s pretty rare to read a book and absolutely adore both MC’s equally. Usually I have a favorite POV or favorite half of a couple, but in The Invisible Husband of Frick Island, I couldn’t choose between Piper and Anders. Both were so incredibly endearing, quirky, and easy to relate to.
I definitely laughed and probably shed a few happy tears. This book is so heartwarming and hopeful, and I loved how the Frick Island community rallied together to support each other. I was thoroughly entertained by this odd town, and was especially sad for this book to end. This was my first book by Colleen Oakley, but it certainly won’t be my last.
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