The Endless Beach

Colgan opens this sequel by assuring readers it doesn’t matter whether they’ve read the first book (2017’s The Café by the Sea), but this is unmistakably the second book in a trilogy—the dark middle of everything, without the optimism of beginnings nor the happily-ever-after closure that one hopes will eventually appear. Flora MacKenzie, newly minted entrepreneur on the Scottish Isle of Mure, and Joel Binder, American lawyer, have come together under the ruthless aegis of billionaire Colton Rogers, who’s bought half the island and Joel too, and is trying to draw in Flora’s brother, Fintan. Joel and Colton depart on a prolonged, confidential business trip, leaving Flora struggling, feeling pushed away by Joel’s unexplained silences. Problematic simplifications found in the first book—fetishization of Flora’s “milky, creamy” whiteness, pure faith in benevolent capitalism—become nuanced here, but other flaws appear, such as Syrian refugee Saif Hassan, whose sad history is leveraged into inspirational pathos while he remains underdeveloped as a character. Colgan’s brand expertly combines quirky contemporary U.K. settings and snarky-sweet realism, but, with little resolved for these characters after so much pain, this book is not a good introduction to the series or her work. Agent: Jo Unwin, Jo Unwin Literary (U.K.). (May)