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Bed & Breakfast: A Novel
by
Lois Battle
Penguin is pleased to reintroduce readers to born storyteller. The Washington Post and New York Times bestselling author Lois Battle and her delightful holiday tale of Josie Taternall and her South Carolina bed and breakfast. After her best friend's narrow brush with death, Josie decides that life is too short to let old grievances stand in the way of family togetherness....more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
August 25th 2009
by Penguin Books
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Sorry-- I just wasn't thrilled with this one, even though it's a local author and is set in Beaufort. A little too over the top for me with some (most) of the characters.
From the Publisher
Ten years of family secrets, misunderstandings, and recriminations have kept the Tatternalls apart - until Josie, a military widow suddenly alerted to mortality when one of her best friends keels over during a bridge game, impulsively invites her three grown daughters home for the holidays at her gracious Sout...more
From the Publisher
Ten years of family secrets, misunderstandings, and recriminations have kept the Tatternalls apart - until Josie, a military widow suddenly alerted to mortality when one of her best friends keels over during a bridge game, impulsively invites her three grown daughters home for the holidays at her gracious Sout...more
Josie Tatternal is a people pleaser. A widow, she runs a bed and breakfast in the large old home she insisted her husband buy when he retired from the military. After all those years of moving constantly she wanted roots, and the place next to her sister’s home was for sale. But the home she envisioned didn’t quite come to fruition. Her husband descended into alcoholism and died. Her three daughters grew up and left – only the middle child, Lila, is living nearby with her husband and children. S...more
I enjoyed the book, so I'll give it 3 stars, but...
This is not so much a "Christmas" story, but a story that happens at Christmastime. The story and the characters made me so grateful for my family...who are not near as disfunctional as these characters...who knew? :)
This is the story of a family with 3 girls (Cam, Lila, Evie), a dedicated and domestic mother (Josie), and an alcoholic/womanizing military father (Bear). Bear died about 10 years prior, Cam is selfish and cynical and lives in New...more
This is not so much a "Christmas" story, but a story that happens at Christmastime. The story and the characters made me so grateful for my family...who are not near as disfunctional as these characters...who knew? :)
This is the story of a family with 3 girls (Cam, Lila, Evie), a dedicated and domestic mother (Josie), and an alcoholic/womanizing military father (Bear). Bear died about 10 years prior, Cam is selfish and cynical and lives in New...more
The back cover doesn't accurately portray the depression of this novel. If the novel’s purpose was to make one feel great about their family, it succeeded. I could not relate to the hateful, selfish, and rotten children in whom Josie places her hope. All Josie wants is a nice family Christmas and that is such a disaster that I am surprised she doesn’t die from heartbreak. I understand that families are flawed, but the only likeable character was Josie and I don’t know why she even bothered—she’d...more
Dec 07, 2012
Jo
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
christmas,
fiction,
southern-lit,
southernlitgroupread,
own,
all-time-favorites,
finished-2012
This is the December group read for my Southern Lit Lovers group here on Goodreads and my nomination for the month which means I'm leading the chat! I've had this book on my living room shelf for years, tried it a couple of times & never finished, but I kept it with my Christmas books, honestly, because I adore the cover! Am I glad I held onto it! I so enjoyed this novel! At times it reminded me of other Southern family novels I've read, but that didn't take away from it. I didn't want to pu...more
I enjoyed this novel about Southern women and families. It reminded me a lot of other "southern" novels I have read. Strong southern voices bring the characters to life. Josie is a seventy something military widow, who nurses a little disappointment at the marriage she looks back on. She has three very different daughters, each of them difficult in their own way. When a friend of hers has a brush with death Josie decides she doesn't want to waste any more time. With Christmas approaching, Josie...more
I would not recommend this book as a Christmas holiday read, though that's when it's set, as I think it would be a real downer. However, I ripped through it over a summer weekend and enjoyed the descriptions of the South Carolina shore as well as the family dramas. I agree with other reviewers that some of the characters were hugely unlikeable (Josie's grandson Ricky especially), I actually think that Battle did a wonderful job of demonstrating how little slights built over time can lead to larg...more
Why is it that when I really dislike a book it is harder to organize my thoughts! I just have a jumbled mess of criticisms circling around in my head.
This book started off okay. A lady in her 70's witnesses her friend's heart attack, decides time is fleeting and decides to make all her children come home for Christmas. Her oldest daughter and she do not get along or talk at all and her daughter has promised to never come home again. The middle daughter lives down the road in a giant mansion and...more
This book started off okay. A lady in her 70's witnesses her friend's heart attack, decides time is fleeting and decides to make all her children come home for Christmas. Her oldest daughter and she do not get along or talk at all and her daughter has promised to never come home again. The middle daughter lives down the road in a giant mansion and...more
This is a nice cozy book about a woman named Josie who bought a Bed and Breakfast when her husband retired from the military and is now running it as a widow. The story surrounds her relationship with her sister and her husband, her card playing friends, and her three daughters, all of whom have been a source of some anxiety to her. The story mainly concentrates on Josie and two of her daughters; it is interesting to get all of their perspectives on things that happen to them. This is a very ple...more
Lois Battle has family dynamics down pat - whether you're from the North or the South. If you're looking for a novel about family relationships you might enjoy this book. Ms. Battle writes the truth - especially about sisters, mothers, and friends.
"No one got through life without regrets. The best you could hope for was that they'd be the right regrets, that no matter what you'd suffered, you had taken a chance on love or whatever else you'd most wanted." p.369
I read Bed & Breakfast for th...more
"No one got through life without regrets. The best you could hope for was that they'd be the right regrets, that no matter what you'd suffered, you had taken a chance on love or whatever else you'd most wanted." p.369
I read Bed & Breakfast for th...more
Perfect book for the holiday season. Lois Battle portrays a family with all the very real conflicts and personality tensions that arise whether young or old. Each of the characters was remarkably believable and I could relate to each of them, some in more frustrating ways than others! A satisfying ending, not too neat ending. It was very comforting to spend time with another family just as flawed as the ones we have in real life, and just as determined to come together during the stressful holid...more
This was an interesting story of a dysfunctional family at Christmas. Josie is the widow of a military man and has three daughters, Cam, Lila and Evie. After the near death experience of a friend, Josie asks all three women to be home for Christmas. Lila still lives nearby but is rather petulant and feels put upon by everyone else's needs. Cam just learned she is pregnant and Evie is having an affair with Lila's elderly father-in-law. It was a good readable novel with some flashbacks to flesh ou...more
I was hoping to take my mind off of the horrors of politics and negative news and such this week by reading a lightweight fiction on the plane.... Sadly, I'm afraid this was just TOO light-weight and empty for me...... the writer was wonderful at conveying a sense of place and drawing one in... Beaufort, NC IS a lovely place and I felt it..... but the characters were too shallow, vacuous, self-absorbed..... and very clearly terrified of anything non-Republican, though such a thing was never utte...more
Josie Tatternall’s husband, Bear, was a career military man. The Tatternalls had three daughters – Camilla, Lila and Evie – but Bear was gone so much, Josie basically raised them by herself. Josie always longed for some stability, so when Bear retired, she insisted on buying her dream home. When Josie is widowed, she is forced to turn her home into a Bed and Breakfast to make ends meet.
Josie is a wonderful hostess, so her business is a success. She has good friends, but her relationship with her...more
Josie is a wonderful hostess, so her business is a success. She has good friends, but her relationship with her...more
This book is an easy read type book that you read because it's the only thing you can find. The characters are pretty standard: the tired old matriarch, the oldest rebel daughter, the middle daughter who thinks she is never appreciated and the youngest daughter who doesn't have a clue. Doesn't really get to the beauty of SC or use the settings to its advantage. All the conflict is predictable and routine. Would have loved to hear more about Bear and Josie's early married life. Bear seems the mos...more
I read this book for the Southern Lit group. It was a good recommendation for the season. I enjoyed this novel- I didn't love it. The characters were endearing and the story line was engaging. My favorite line was not thought provoking, but it created such a strong mental image, I carried it with me throughout the reading of the novel.
"At least she wasn't an old woman rattling around her house like a marble in a coffee can."
"At least she wasn't an old woman rattling around her house like a marble in a coffee can."
I like keeping with tradition and reading a holiday book over the holidays. This book did not disappoint. Quirky characters and an insight into southern life. Every time I read about the Carolinas it makes me yearn more and more for a visit! There is just something about the east coast of the States that make them so intriguing! It was an easy read, and one that you just wanted to keep reading and find out what happened.
I have to say I had a hard time reading this book. I did a lot of skimming through some tedious detail that I thought dragged the plot along. Eventually I became interested in the characters and their lives. I enjoyed the mother, Josie, as a woman about my age who weaves her way through her daughters' unsettled lives. I have often thought that owning a b and b would be a fun gig, but on second thought....
Excellent book! I loved every page of it. Read it ladies, you won't be sorry. If you liked Tara Road by Maeve Binchey then you will love this book. It is not like it in the sense that it has nothing to do with the place where the people reside. It is just about a lady that feels like she has basically no hope in life and everyone she loves thinks she is outdated and old fashioned. I will read it again.
Disappointing! Picked the book up after reading the terrific comments on the back cover and was sadly disappointed. This is just another book about the trials and errors of families rather than life in a B&B. Mothers with grown children will be able to relate to parts of the story as many have probably experienced similar situations but it isn't what the title seems to suggest.
A very interesting story about relationships that addresses dysfunction in family and friend relationships but, at the same time, really allowing you to see the viewpoint with each of the characters (and side with them). I especially enjoyed seeing the growth of the characters in understanding and maturity...even the 70+ year old mother Josie.
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This book was a bit predictable which decreased my enjoyment a bit. The characters were rather one sided with the exception of Cam. The author did a much better job developing that character. Unfortunately the book has several more characters and nobody really stood out. It was an easy read but I thought a little too narrow in focus.
I always enjoy novels that focus on women's relationships with family, friends, men, etc. and Battle didn't disappoint. My only complaint was that, like many Southern novels, it was overcrowded with detail that didn't lend a thing to the story itself and clogged it up in many places. It was a fun, entertaining read.
Since I'm trying to break out of my usual FBI crime drama genre, this book definitely fit that bill. I agree it's not a Chrismtas book but set at Christmastime. I enjoyed some of the quirky sayings that only people from the South would get ... peppered throughout the book. I wish I'd written some down.
This was sweet and VERY simple--didn't engage my brain, but did touch my heart a little. If you've ever been a mom with unappreciative adult children, you can relate! I'll read almost anything I'm given. Sometimes the brain needs a rest, and I did enjoy the "Southern" commentary on South Carolina.
The adjective that comes to mind to describe this book is "nice"... and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Ms. Battle tells a very nice story and she writes with very nice style. I was entertained and I felt connected to the very nice characters she created. In a word, a very nice book.
What a fun read. The story line takes place pretty much around the Christmas holidays, and it was kind of fun to read while it was warm to hot weather. Since the setting is in the south, it also gives a point of view of how their weather is during Christmas.
The characters are like your friends and/or relatives..............sometimes you don't quite agree with what they do or say, but you have insight as to why they act or react like they do. I loved the way Lois Battle began her story and the wa...more
The characters are like your friends and/or relatives..............sometimes you don't quite agree with what they do or say, but you have insight as to why they act or react like they do. I loved the way Lois Battle began her story and the wa...more
Bedtime oral reading for my wife and me.
Some really sharp witticisms. E.g., "but I won't be her PMS chew-toy"
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Terrific story. Gets to the heart of the small town Southern experience in many ways.
I would have enjoyed the interregnum between Parts One and Two, I wish Ms Battle had chosen to write that as well.
Nevertheless, kudos to the author. We loved it.
Some really sharp witticisms. E.g., "but I won't be her PMS chew-toy"
---
Terrific story. Gets to the heart of the small town Southern experience in many ways.
I would have enjoyed the interregnum between Parts One and Two, I wish Ms Battle had chosen to write that as well.
Nevertheless, kudos to the author. We loved it.
This book started out really slow, but did pick up. It focused on the relationship between a mom and her 2 older daughters. The 3rd daughter seemed like and after thought in the story. Alot of characters revolved on the fringes. Overall, I enjoyed it.
Three sisters come home for Christmas after 10 years. The past and the present both cause various problems for their relationships. Things will settle....maybe not by Christmas though. I love any book about sisters and their relationships.
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