Saturday Review: “Between Life Before and Life After” a review by Kristi Southern
of The Saddest Girl on the Beach (2024) a novel by Heather Frese in NCLR Online Winter 2025
Another early look at a review in the forthcoming NCLR Online Winter 2025 issue!
Southern lets us know this book is a prequel, the events happening prior to Frese’s debut novel. She writes, “Charlotte finds herself in a number of opposing places throughout her year on the Outer Banks, physically between the solid mainland and the vast, ever-changing ocean, on the cusp of adulthood, between life and death, and between her before self and her after self, as she searches for equilibrium and her place in life without her father.”
The review talks about Charlotte and her various relationships with friends, potential beaux, and parental figures, both actual and chosen. There is also a brief mention of self-harm found in the book, so caveat lector.
“It seems an injustice to leave out the Atlantic Ocean and the Outer Banks themselves in any discussion of Frese’s novel, as they serve as a lively and adaptive setting and tool.” Southern writes. “Frese’s novel is a fitting beach read, with characters who are sometimes sarcastic, funny, and thoughtful, but almost always
quite likeable. Any Eastern North Carolinian will recognize references such as the wild ponies, Queen Anne’s Revenge, thick brogue, and Bonner Bridge.”
Read the preview from the Online Winter 2025 issue! And order the book from the publisher.
