The fishing village of Frick Island is cut off from the world. The islanders are proud. Piper Parrish has made it her home for most of her life, and she loves everything about living there. But when her husband Tom doesn’t return from a fishing trip, she doesn’t handle his loss. So much so that she’s seen around town, talking to him as if he’s still there. But, of course, the islanders go along with it; they love her and want what’s best for her. When reporter Anders catches wind of the story, he knows he can finally get his podcast to the level of fame he’d only ever dreamed of. But at what cost?
I’m not a fan of comparing an author’s works to their other works, but this didn’t quite hold the magic of her previous book, You Were There Too. I felt it followed too many predictable character tropes for my liking, specifically the “I’m doing something wrong, I should speak up before it’s too late.” But outside of that, this was a cute read. The islanders were prickly, and I felt they were written well. I enjoyed watching them finally take to Anders, and I enjoyed the descriptive way Oakley writes of Frick Island.
The Invisible Husband of Frick Island is available on Amazon for $9.99 or Bookshop for $15.64.
Read and like this review on Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub.
About the Book:
Sometimes all you need is one person to really see you.
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.
Rae's Reading Lounge 