Save What's Left

A Novel (Good Morning America Book Club)

By: Elizabeth Castellano

Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer

GMA BOOK CLUB PICK • ONE OF PEOPLE MAGAZINE'S BEST BOOKS OF SUMMER • An outrageously funny debut novel about a woman who moves to a small beach town looking for peace, only to find herself in an all-out war with her neighbors.

“Irreverent and unexpectedly tender, this story takes neighborhood feuding to new heights and finds beauty and reinvention in unlikely places."—Oprah Daily

"Brings a tongue-in-cheek tone to the beach read genre."—TIME

When Kathleen Deane’s husband, Tom, tells her he's no longer happy with his life and their marriage, Kathleen is confused. They live in Kansas. They’ve been married thirty years. Who said anything about being happy? But with Tom off finding himself, Kathleen starts to think about what she wants. And her thoughts lead her to a small beach community on the east coast, a town called Whitbey that has always looked lovely in the Christmas letters her childhood friend Josie sends every year.

It turns out, though, that life in Whitbey is nothing like Josie’s letters. Kathleen’s new neighbor, Rosemary, is cantankerous, and the town’s supervisor won't return Kathleen’s emails, but worst of all is the Sugar Cube, the monstrosity masquerading as a holiday home that Kathleen’s absentee neighbors are building next door to her quaint (read: tiny) cottage. As Kathleen gets more and more involved in the fight against the Sugar Cube and town politics overall, she realizes that Whitbey may not be a fairytale, but it just might be exactly what she needed.

Save What’s Left can best be described as the “un-beach read.” It pulls back the curtain on life in a beach town, revealing the true cost of a pretty view. Told from the candid and irreverent perspective of a newcomer turned local, this is a story of forgiveness, fortitude, and second chances.

©2023 Elizabeth Castellano (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

ONE OF PEOPLE MAGAZINE'S BEST BOOKS OF SUMMER • A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: Today.com, The Skimm, Southern Living, She Reads, Good Housekeeping

"Irreverent and unexpectedly tender, this story takes neighborhood feuding to new heights and finds beauty and reinvention in unlikely places. A wickedly funny debut." —Oprah Daily

"When her marriage goes bust, Kathleen heads for Long Island, where the challenges of owning a beach house—okay, a converted oyster shack—fuel a series of unfortunate, yet absolutely hilarious, events." —People

"With its wisecracking protagonist—Kathleen Deane, still reeling from her husband Tom’s declaration that he was unhappy with their Kansas life and marriage—Save What’s Left brings a tongue-in-cheek tone to the beach read genre." —TIME

Painful to get through

I did finish this book, but it took me forever. Would not recommend. I really wanted to like it and kept waiting for a plot twist. When the supposed plot twist finally arrived it was honestly such a let down. I listened for this long for that.

Hilarious story

Hyper hilarious story which should strike a nerve for anyone who owns beach or vacation house. As we all know, and as stated in the story, you can’t pick your neighbors. I laughed out loud throughout me, duration. The narrator did a superb job as she voiced all the characters.

I wanted to like it, But . . .

I was excited to listen to this book - I live in a seaside town in between airbnbs and attend ZBA meetings. I thought it would be an amusing but charming look at small beach town living. I love where I live with all its quirks! But this book is so negative, droning on and on about how horrible everything is for 7 hours - and then in the last 15 minutes, you finally get “but I love it even though”. Bleh - not at all entertaining or charming.

One big whinefest

bought this book after seeing it recommended on a morning news show but found it to be one big whinefest. the characters were uninteresting and the story was uninteresting. kept listening thinking it would get better but it never did. waste of time and money. the production was one that continually say"he said......she said" in order to recognize who is speaking. i find the audible books that use that technique are very distracting. Dont recommend

Not what I expected!

I was expecting a hilariously funny read, instead there was a story about a woman consistently arguing with local government. The narrator was not much better than the story. I only listened because it made gardening go faster.

well read with personality

liked plot and theme. disliked in the narrating the need for she said, I said inclusion

OMG! What a “Karen” Ha Ha!

I thought the story would be interesting because honestly why wouldn’t it be- you have a woman left to her own devices by her husband of so many years - not over another woman but bc he had to “find himself”. I mean I had high expectations and what a let down. There are some funny parts but I swear all I could think of was OMG what a “Karen!” LOL! I stuck with it bc it was my book club read. …And that end - seriously aft all of her hard work and emailing-oh geez those emails- and finally something of interest, a crime! Only to be let down again bc - everyone got away with everything! SMH!

No substance

I kept listening because of the excellent narration. Waited for some sort of “hook” but it never came- very confusing story without any sort of meaningful plot development- very frustrating- wasted a credit-

Wouldn’t buy again

This was not the book for me. I did find the narration excellent. I just didn’t have a character to root for, and saw little growth in the main character. There were good things about the plot, but it felt so repetitive without enough forward movement.

It’s an easy listen, the narrator made the book easy to listen to

Narration was top notch! I really would listen to other books narrated by her.

The book was and easy listen. I definitely felt the soft landing at the end after the build up, was a bit of a whiff. Enjoyable enough, but nothing that will make me enthusiastically recommend this book.

But an easy listen, although at times I felt myself frustrated because of the antics being employed by the townsfolk.