The Jetsetters
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • Named One of the Best Beach Reads of the Year by Parade, O: The Oprah Magazine, and Good Housekeeping
“The exuberant activity aboard the Splendido Marveloso is no match for the fireworks set off as the lies explode. Full of wicked humor and delicious destination details.”—People (Book of the Week)
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ESQUIRE
When seventy-year-old Charlotte Perkins submits a sexy essay to the Become a Jetsetter contest, she dreams of reuniting her estranged children: Lee, an almost-famous actress; Cord, a handsome Manhattan venture capitalist who can’t seem to find a partner; and Regan, a harried mother who took it all wrong when Charlotte bought her a Weight Watchers gift certificate for her birthday. Charlotte yearns for the years when her children were young, when she was a single mother who meant everything to them.
When she wins the contest, the family packs their baggage—both literal and figurative—and spends ten days traveling from sun-drenched Athens through glorious Rome to tapas-laden Barcelona on an over-the-top cruise ship, the Splendido Marveloso. As lovers new and old join the adventure, long-buried secrets are revealed and old wounds are reopened, forcing the Perkins family to confront the forces that drove them apart and the defining choices of their lives.
Can four lost adults find the peace they’ve been seeking by reconciling their childhood aches and coming back together? In the vein of The Nest and The Vacationers, The Jetsetters is a delicious and intelligent novel about the courage it takes to reveal our true selves, the pleasures and perils of family, and how we navigate the seas of adulthood.
“The exuberant activity aboard the Splendido Marveloso is no match for the fireworks set off as the lies explode. Full of wicked humor and delicious destination details.”—People (Book of the Week)
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ESQUIRE
When seventy-year-old Charlotte Perkins submits a sexy essay to the Become a Jetsetter contest, she dreams of reuniting her estranged children: Lee, an almost-famous actress; Cord, a handsome Manhattan venture capitalist who can’t seem to find a partner; and Regan, a harried mother who took it all wrong when Charlotte bought her a Weight Watchers gift certificate for her birthday. Charlotte yearns for the years when her children were young, when she was a single mother who meant everything to them.
When she wins the contest, the family packs their baggage—both literal and figurative—and spends ten days traveling from sun-drenched Athens through glorious Rome to tapas-laden Barcelona on an over-the-top cruise ship, the Splendido Marveloso. As lovers new and old join the adventure, long-buried secrets are revealed and old wounds are reopened, forcing the Perkins family to confront the forces that drove them apart and the defining choices of their lives.
Can four lost adults find the peace they’ve been seeking by reconciling their childhood aches and coming back together? In the vein of The Nest and The Vacationers, The Jetsetters is a delicious and intelligent novel about the courage it takes to reveal our true selves, the pleasures and perils of family, and how we navigate the seas of adulthood.
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Community Reviews
While this book was a super fast read, the author revealed details of a suicide slowly, making me want to keep reading to find out what happened. There was too much mention of alcohol and lives I cannot relate to. However, the book successfully took my mind off of COVID19 onto a Mediterranean cruise with a dysfunctional family. It’s an easy beach read that might be enjoyable on a cruise.
While exceptionally written and overall a good book, it was hard to read because of the personalities and toxic behaviors incited by the family. I spent the entire book hoping for a turning point in the family's dynamic and ability to be vulnerable...that turning point doesn't come until the very end. This is one of those books where you feel so strongly about the main characters, and not in a good way, that it clouds your judgement about the book as a whole. I hated most of the characters and pitied them, but the personalities and traits depicted are very real and present in many families - including my own which is probably why I struggled to enjoy reading this book. I didn't feel a sense of accomplishment or peace once I finished reading it.
I enjoyed this book so much! An intergenerational story about an older mother and her grown children, the storyline was very interconnected, funny, sad, and triumphant all at once. Great storytelling.
I started this book earlier in the year and for one reason or another list interest. I went back to it vowint to finish what I started. The book was surprising - I thought I didn't like it at first but when I came back to it, I enjoyed it very much.
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