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    The Last Bathing Beauty
    The Last Bathing Beauty
    The Last Bathing Beauty
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Last Bathing Beauty

    Written by Amy Sue Nathan

    Narrated by Kathleen McInerney

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A former beauty queen faces the secrets of her past—for herself and the sake of her family’s future—in a heartfelt novel about fate, choices, and second chances.

    Everything seemed possible in the summer of 1951. Back then Betty Stern was an eighteen-year-old knockout working at her grandparents’ lakeside resort. The “Catskills of the Midwest” was the perfect place for Betty to prepare for bigger things. She’d head to college in New York City. Her career as a fashion editor would flourish. But first, she’d enjoy a wondrous last summer at the beach falling deeply in love with an irresistible college boy and competing in the annual Miss South Haven pageant. On the precipice of a well-planned life, Betty’s future was limitless.

    Decades later, the choices of that long-ago season still reverberate for Betty, now known as Boop. Especially when her granddaughter comes to her with a dilemma that echoes Boop’s memories of first love, broken hearts, and faraway dreams. It’s time to finally face the past—for the sake of her family and her own happiness. Maybe in reconciling the life she once imagined with the life she’s lived, Boop will discover it’s never too late for a second chance.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateApr 1, 2020
    ISBN9781799750321
    The Last Bathing Beauty
    Author

    Amy Sue Nathan

    Amy Sue Nathan is the author of The Good Neighbor and the founder of WomensFictionWriters.com, which was named a Best Website for Writers by Writer's Digest. Amy lives in Philadelphia and has a grown son and daughter. You can find her online, often when she shouldn't be.

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    Reviews for The Last Bathing Beauty

    4/5

    41 ratings8 reviews

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    • 5/5

      Jan 11, 2024

      At it's hart, this is a story about Jewish grandmothers. While it's far from the most intellectual or literary book I've read, it's a lovely story about the dichotomy of longing for the life you know you could have had, without having any desire to change the one you did have. It was also lovely to read a book with characters who where Jewish to their cores without that being the only thing the book was about.
    • 4/5

      Feb 24, 2022

      This story hit close to home - physically! I loved listening to a story that is set less than an hour from my house!

      The story kept me laughing and brought me straight back in time, which I adored!

      Great job!
    • 4/5

      Feb 6, 2022

      Betty Stern was a beauty working at her grandparent's lakeside resort. Her life laid out in front of her. But, that is not the life that she ended up having. Will she reconcile with her past?
    • 4/5

      Jun 22, 2022

      The story of Betty (nicknamed Boop) and the summer that her life trajectory totally changes. The summer before Betty starts college in NYC should be the best of her life - she has grandparents who support her, 2 best friends who love her, a resort owned by her grandparents that she calls home and she meets her first love that summer. The story takes place in 1950 where girls are expected to behave in certain ways and not behave in certain ways.

    • 5/5

      Sep 22, 2020

      Betty, age 84, relives her teen years and her loves, as her granddaughter shows up for more than a short visit and as her two grade school girlfriends are visiting. Takes places in NY and is of Jewish culture. Very interesting. I just wonder if society was as she depicted 70 years ago. A quick read, a good beach read.
    • 5/5

      Apr 5, 2020

      This wonderful new novel by Amy Sue Nathan is all about the 'what ifs' of life -- the days we all look back on and wonder how out lives would be different if only we had chosen another path. It's full of friendship, love, family and regrets. I have read and enjoyed all of the books by this author but this one is my new favorite. First, because it takes place in Michigan along the Lake Michigan shoreline near where I spent all of my summers growing up. Second, it stresses the importance of friends, not only as teenagers but real lifelong friends.

      This is a dual timeline novel about Betty at 18 ready to go to college and begin her life. She and her two best friends enjoy themselves as Betty joins the pageant to become Miss Grand Haven and more importantly she falls in love with a college student. The other timeline is Boop (as Betty is now called) now in her 80s and looking back at everything that happened during the summer of 1951.



      I loved the characters in this novel especially Betty/Boop. This was a real coming of age novel, even though she is in her 80s, it's never too late to reconcile current life and memories. I loved the friendship between the three lifelong friends and the love that they felt for each other. Often in a dual time line novels, one story will be more interesting than the other but in this novel, I enjoyed both story lines and enjoyed Betty as a teenager as much as Boop as an older woman. Betty wanted more out of life than becoming a wife and mother, even though that was the goal of most women in the 1950's. She is a strong woman in her 80's and she and her friends show that life can be as exciting for women at any age as long as she has her friends.
    • 4/5

      Mar 26, 2020

      A great book to read during the quarantine of 2020. What a beautifully written, heartbreaking and heartwarming family story. Told in dual timeline of 1951 about Betty, a HS graduate with an exciting summer ahead before she goes off to college...to current day Boop, as she’s now called, coming to terms with a move she’s not quite sure about. The love between Boop and her granddaughter is so sweet, along with her friendship with Doris and Georgia. What happens that summer of 51 is accurate for the time.

      Set in South Haven, MI, the Catskills of the Midwest, at Stern’s Summer Resort, Betty’s Grandparents resort. The resort caters to Jewish families who come back year after year. The story talks of family, responsibility and the choices we make.

      Thanks to Ms. Nathan, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.
    • 4/5

      Mar 24, 2020

      Perfect for a weekend escape. It is a story of Betty Stern, a young girl with dreams of a career and a happy marriage. Then later in her life, when betrayals and secrets are finally revealed, she struggles to come to terms with the life she has had and what might have been.

      The plot was somewhat predictable, and there was an excessive amount of description. Character development was certainly not the best. Most of the characters seemed to be there only to “showcase” Betty. But, overall, it was still a very enjoyable story. If you enjoyed the movie “Dirty Dancing”, you will enjoy this book.