Oh, how I love to spend time by the water—and as a reader, I mean this in two distinct ways. My entire family is currently anticipating an upcoming trip to the beach, and one of the things I’m most looking forward to is reading by the ocean and the pool. I love to read, I love the water, and putting them together is heaven, for this reader.
But I don’t get to read by the water nearly as often as I’d like. Thankfully, through the magic of a good book, I can at least read about the water—or about being by the water—even when I can’t physically be there myself. Thank goodness for transportive reads that allow me to vicariously experience the places so far from my real life.
When I say I’m excited to read by the ocean, I’m picturing sunshine and a gentle breeze, not stormy weather. But score another one for fiction: through the pages of a good book, I enjoy visiting seaside settings I would never want to travel to in my actual life, either because of their inhabitability (I’m looking at you, Wild Dark Shore) or the terrible things that unfold there (as is the case with several of the books below).
Today’s list takes us around the world: everywhere from Nantucket to an Antarctic island and the Japanese coast to the Jersey Shore. Whether you’re in the mood for a contemporary family drama or a centuries-old classic, I hope you’ll find a seaside tale that’s just right for you in this list.
22 books set by the sea
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Wild Dark Shore
Charlotte McConaghy is one of my auto-read authors. The setting for her latest emotional thriller is spectacularly eerie: Dominic Salt and his three children live on Shearwater Island, not far from Antarctica. He tends to the world's largest seed bank, which used to teem with researchers. Now only the Salt family remains, despite the rising sea levels that have driven everyone else away. When a woman almost drowns while trying to reach the island by boat, Dominic's teenage daughter rescues her and drags her ashore. As the woman gets to know the family and gains insight into the secrets they’re keeping, she’s hiding a secret mission of her own. A brooding, character-driven, page-turning read. More info →
Fellowship Point
This sprawling saga and 2022 MMD Summer Reading Guide selection featuring two octogenarian protagonists reads like a 19th century novel. Agnes Lee and Polly Wister have been friends their whole lives, growing up alongside each other in Philadelphia Quaker families and summering together on a Maine peninsula. Agnes is beloved by the world as a bestselling children’s author, but not a living soul—including Polly—knows she also pens the popular and critically praised Franklin Square series. Polly knows Agnes sees her as a pushover, especially when it comes to her family, but Polly never lets on that she's wiser than her friend gives her credit for. When an enterprising (and nosy) young editor begins pestering Agnes to write a memoir, she sets in motion a chain of events that tests the women’s lifelong friendship, and threatens to expose the long-buried secrets each has carefully kept from the other. More info →
The Irish Goodbye
O’Neill’s debut unfolds largely over the four-day Thanksgiving holiday when a big Irish American family comes back together at the dilapidated old family seaside home for the first time in years. This family once had four siblings; now three adult sisters remain, having lost their brother years ago when he was just in his twenties. The family never figured out how to deal with the aftermath of a tragic accident on their brother’s boat that happened two decades ago and resulted in a friend’s death, an expensive lawsuit against their parents, and their brother’s subsequent tragic death. Now the parents are aging and struggling to take care of the old home, and of each other. The newly returned Ryan sisters are eager to reconnect but they each carry a secret—and before the weekend is over, it’s all going to come spilling out. This family drama explores grief, guilt, regret, and aging amidst the tensions of the holiday. More info →
Lucy by the Sea
I sat down with this book, the fourth in the loose Amgash series, on a Saturday afternoon—and I read the entire thing without getting up because I couldn't bear to put it down. It is a pandemic story, following Lucy Barton as she escapes with her companion from New York City to the coast of Maine. The conversations in this book are about the pandemic, but also about the fragility of life and what it means to be in relationship with others, and I found it touching, tearful, and ultimately life-affirming. It was one of my favorite books of 2022. More info →
The Summer Girlfriend
This sweet summer romance and 2026 Summer Reading Guide selection is bursting with bookishness and baked goods. Jeremiah has been avoiding his tight-knit family lately, claiming his (fictional) girlfriend has kept him too busy. Noelle makes decent money as a for-hire bridesmaid, but needs a lot more to pay tuition for her coveted library science degree. After a bookstore meet-cute, Jeremiah makes Noelle an offer: pretend to be his girlfriend at his family’s beach house for the weekend. That outing goes so well, they extend their fake fling for the whole summer. Noelle falls in love with the house, the family… and pretty soon she’s falling for Jeremiah as well. Little does she know, it’s mutual. This is a fun escapist read with a beach house setting that’s a character in its own right. More info →
The Shore
Brian and Margot live a dream life with their teen daughters Liz and Evy in a beach town on the Jersey Shore, as year-round residents who make their living renting vacation homes to tourists. But when Brian is diagnosed with a rare and personality-altering brain tumor, everything changes. While Margot tries to keep their bustling real estate business afloat, the girls adjust to caretaking for their father and continuing to do normal teenage stuff like trying new summer jobs and trying on new personas. A moving, heart-wrenching, and ultimately hopeful story of love, family, and grief in a tourist town. More info →
Make Nice
In Effgen’s debut comedy of manners, three adult siblings return, at their father’s request, to The Grand Hotel, a thinly veiled version of Mackinac Island and a place that was special to them growing up after their mother died. Snail scientist Pete, soon-to-be divorcée Viv, and con man Corey go into the long weekend prepared to “make nice” but of course nothing goes as planned for them, Viv’s teenage daughter, or their incompetent father. I googled so many aspects of Pete’s story, which was my favorite of the bunch: Carthusian snails, carrera marble, and the Michigan shoreline. More info →
Rebecca
This 1930s Gothic classic is an un-put-down-able mystery. Don't be put off by its age: this thrilling novel feels surprisingly current (and the decades have done nothing to diminish the creepiness of Mrs Danvers). Du Maurier's approach is unusual: the woman of the title is dead before the action begins; the young second wife, our narrator, is never given a name. Because she doesn't understand what's going on for a long time, neither does the reader. And by the time you find out what really happened at the husband’s Cornwall coast estate, you may find yourself one of the many readers who feel almost complicit in the crime. Suspenseful but not scary, it holds its tension on a re-reading: a sure sign of a well-crafted thriller. More info →
Down With the Shipmans
Unfolding over the course of a single July week, this juicy family drama features an attractive setting and interesting roster of characters. The three adult Shipman daughters return to the beloved family beach home on the New Hampshire coast to spend time together—the first real time they’ll spend together since their mother’s death from cancer. They think it’s a reunion; what they don’t know is that it’s also a goodbye, because their father intends to list the house for sale before the week is over. More info →
Persuasion
The most serious and romantic of Austen’s works follows Anne Elliot, our quiet and devoted heroine, when her family leaves their estate to escape financial ruin. In this second chance love story, Austen explores themes of love, regret, and fidelity. Several key scenes take place in the seaside town of Lyme Regis; several of the film adaptations have also filmed here. (I found these great photos from the most recent 2022 Dakota Johnson adaptation filming for you.) If you're looking for an excellent audiobook option, Juliet Stevenson is one of my favorite narrators for Austen's works. Two other newer audio editions are worth noting: Cynthia Erivo narrates a serialized version available on Spotify, and Florence Pugh stars in a dramatized version available on Audible. More info →
Sandwich
I am at the exact stage of life for this pitch-perfect midlife tale to resonate deeply. For what may be the last time, fifty-something Rocky and her husband cram into a tiny Cape Cod beach house for one glorious week, along with their two kids, one girlfriend, and Rocky’s aging parents. Emotions are running high, as Rocky, nostalgic and menopausal, wants to relish every moment with her adult children and increasingly fragile parents. Their time together is precious, and also turbulent, as it is revealed that various family members have been hiding shattering truths for decades—out of love, yes, but hiding them all the same. I read this 2024 Minimalist Summer Reading Guide pick in two days and put it straight on my Best of the Year list. If you enjoy this, make sure to read the follow up, Wreck. More info →
The Blue Bistro
This was my first Elin Hilderbrand novel; though published in 2005, I named it a 2015 Summer Reading Guide pick. Within hours of arriving on Nantucket, Adrienne lands a job at the acclaimed oceanside restaurant The Blue Bistro. Over the course of the summer, Adrienne falls in love, endures family drama, and confronts a medical mystery, but the real star of this book is the restaurant itself. Hilderbrand’s tales from the belly of a fabulous summer hotspot are riveting and realistic: you’ll find yourself rooting for Adrienne as she figures out how to survive in the cutthroat setting. Warning: all that great food on the page will make you hungry! More info →
The Cliffs
Sullivan’s provocative 2024 novel (and Summer Reading Guide selection) is the story of a purple Victorian and the land on which it sits, overlooking the ocean in Maine. The story begins in the present, when a disgraced Harvard archivist retreats to her hometown after torching her marriage and career in one foolish act. The house’s owner asks her to research its history; she’s convinced it’s haunted and wants to get to know her ghosts. Jane’s research uncovers the female artist who lived and worked there in the 1960s and the former Shaker who worked there as a hired girl in the 1850s, and ultimately takes her back to the time when the Wabanaki people lived on the land. The present-day storyline doesn’t hold the same allure as the past dramas, but this juicy summer tale remains immersive, nuanced, and oh-so-discussable. More info →
The Light Between Oceans
Every time I talk about unputdownable stories or books to read in one sitting, someone always mentions this historical novel—and for good reason. Tom and Isabel live alone on Janus Rock, keeping the lighthouse. After two miscarriages and one stillbirth, all on the isolated island, Isabel is despondent. When a boat holding a dead man and a crying baby washes ashore, Isabel persuades Tom to leave the discovery out of his log and eventually adopts the child as her own. But when they visit the shore and its nearby community two years later ... you can imagine what might happen. A great summer read, if you don't mind a hefty dose of fictional sorrow. More info →
This Summer Will Be Different
Listen up, Anne of Green Gables fans: Carley Fortune wrote this 2024 Summer Reading Guide pick just for you. Five years ago, Lucy visited her best friend’s homeland of Prince Edward Island and fell in love with the place—and fell in love with her bestie Bridget’s brother, which Bridget warned her not to do. Every summer since then, Felix has been Lucy’s once-a-year secret fling. But now Bridget’s getting married and the two friends have just one more week on the Island together before everything changes—and this time, Felix can’t be a distraction. I loved the lavish PEI descriptions, abundant Anne Shirley appearances, and the beautiful depiction not just of a slowly blossoming romance (just wait till Felix and Lucy start mailing each other seed packets and books) but also a life-anchoring friendship. More info →
The Winter Sea (Slains #1)
Susanna Kearsley often does interesting things with time in her novels, and this story is no exception. Carrie McClelland is an author looking for her next story when she ventures to Cruden Bay, Scotland. She settles near the ruins of Slains Castle to write, drawing inspiration from her own family history and the events of the Jacobite uprising. The writing process is like nothing she’s ever experienced before and the novel flows out of her, making her feel as if she's actually there. And then she discovers what she's writing actually happened. But how could she have possibly known? Interweaving present-day and historical storylines, Kearsley plays with genetic memory, making for a story you won't soon forget. If you love The Winter Sea and want more, pick up the sequel, The Firebird. More info →
Flashlight
This National Book Award nominee and 2025 Summer Reading Guide selection opens with a mystery: in 1970s Japan, Louisa and her father Serk go for a walk by the shore at dusk, flashlight in hand. The two don’t return as expected. Hours later, searchers find Louisa, unconscious in the water, but her father is missing. Choi subsequently crosses generations and continents as she traces what happened in the decades before and after his disappearance, exploring the estrangements and sorrows of two families, how geopolitics impacts ordinary citizens, and (playing with that flashlight metaphor) how our limited understanding of the people we love causes us pain. An absorbing and satisfyingly complex epic. More info →
Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions (Auntie Poldi Adventure #1)
In this light-hearted mystery (and 2018 Summer Reading Guide selection), a Bavarian widow moves to Sicily and rediscovers her love of living. "On her sixtieth birthday my Auntie Poldi moved to Sicily, intending to drink herself comfortably to death with a sea view." So says Poldi's nephew Michael. But life gets in the way: when Poldi's handyman goes missing, Poldi resolves to find him—with the help of the sexy police Commissario and a host of quirky Italians. Her quest brings Poldi back to life, and all she loves about it—namely prosecco, men, and gossip. Big-hearted and funny, smart and escapist: it's like taking your own Italian vacation. More info →
Typewriter Beach
This riveting historical brings McCarthy-era Hollywood to life. In 1957, Isabella’s movie studio intends to make her the next Grace Kelly—if she can toe the line. But when she runs afoul of their plans, their “fixer” installs her at a cottage in Carmel-by-the-Sea to wait for her situation to be handled. While there, she forms an unlikely friendship with the reclusive Leo, a talented screenwriter who’s living in exile because he’s been blacklisted. A complementary 2017 storyline makes it clear that the past era’s struggles are very much present in Hollywood today. I loved this story for its propulsive plot and riveting period details, most especially the numerous lovely portrayals of people finding love and family even when they’d given up hope of it happening for them in an unkind world. A 2025 Summer Reading Guide selection. More info →
Circe
Miller’s Odyssey retelling focuses on the witch Circe, who is known for having turned men into pigs. Here we see how and why she got to that point. Circe grows up as the daughter of Helios, the god of the Sun and a Titan. She doesn’t fit in with her family but over time, she discovers she does have magical powers all her own. Banished to a deserted island by Zeus, she comes into her own as she meets both friend and foe. This is an inventive take on a familiar story that allowed me to see it in a new, fresh way. (Content warnings apply.) More info →
The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club
This multigenerational tale brings a little-known aspect of history to life. Kelly’s starting point was the stories her mother used to tell about growing up on Martha’s Vineyard, especially her WWII-era tales about rumors of German U-boats lurking offshore. From there Kelly crafts a home front tale about two very different sisters whose lives are upended when U.S. Army troops take up residence on the island for training maneuvers. The handsome soldiers bring excitement to the small community, but fear and disruption as well: times were hard enough before these added concerns. When the women start a book club to find solace and community, their lives change in unexpected ways. A 2025 Summer Reading Guide selection. More info →
Wide Sargasso Sea
In this imaginative prequel, Rhys gives a story and voice to the "villain" of Jane Eyre. Readers know Bertha as Mr Rochester's crazed wife who haunts his attic. In Wide Sargasso Sea, we meet her in her youth in the West Indies, before she enters an unfortunate marriage with the powerful, selfish Englishman, a marriage so devastating it literally drives her mad. Rhys grew up in the Caribbean herself, and the details ring true in this lush and lyrical story. (I recommend reading Jane Eyre before you pick this up.) More info →
What are some of your favorite books set by the sea? Please share in the comments.
P.S. 20 novels that will transport you to the shore, Sail away with these 17 novels set on a boat, and Cool down this summer by reading these novels set in cold places.
P.P.S. For even more Seaside Stories, check out this year’s Summer Reading Guide—it’s a category this year!
25 comments
As an avid reader and historical fiction author who lives on Cape Cod, I love this list. I’ve read: Wild Dark Shore, Rebecca, Light Between Oceans and Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club. I’d also like to suggest: The Widows War by Sally Cabot Gunning, Callahan’s Cottage by Judy Lannon (also Cape Cod authors).
The Big House is a non-fiction book about a summer house on Cape Cod, describing the changes it undergoes as both the family and the environment evolve.
The Big House is a wonderful summer book – interesting if you’ve ever thought about owning a summer place/
This is a great list!! I would also add Coming Home by Rosamund Pilcher, which is a coming-of-age story that takes place at the cusp of WW2 and features a found family. Pilcher’s writing will wrap you up like a warm hug but leave you with tears streaming down your cheeks. The glorious English coastal landscape of Cornwall is the setting! I dream of Cornwall since reading this book.
I agree re Coming Home. Rosamunde Pilcher’s The Shell Seekers is also largely set in Cornwall, before and during WW2 and in the 1980s when the book was written. Such a brilliant book.
I read “A Fortnight in September” by R C Sherriff while on holiday by the sea in Kintyre Scotland last summer and enjoyed it hugely. Not a bit like any of the books mentioned above, but so lovely, calming and life affirming.
I came here to recommend one of my favorite by the sea books which is The Shell Seekers by Rosemund Pilcher. Happy to see that someone else had the same idea.
I’ve finished “Sandwich” within the last week.
What a great list! Fellowship Point is one of my all time favorite reads. I also loved The Irish Goodbye, Lucy by the Sea, of course Rebecca, Down With the Shipmans, Typewriter Beach and Sandwich. After reading today’s post I put Wild Dark Shore and Flashlight on my Libby holds list. I am tempted by Wide Sargasso Sea, but I don’t want to hate Mr. Rochester too much, as I love and adore the book Jane Eyre. I took a deep dive class through the Rosenbach, studying Jane Eyre, and I did learn so much and saw the story with very different eyes. As I write this I’m thinking – go for it. Ok, so I will add Sargasso to my library holds. And thanks Anne for this terrific list.
I really enjoyed Summerland Cove from this year’s summer reading guide.
I am half-way through Summerland Cove right now and it is so good! A real page-turner!
What a wonderful list! I want to go out and read (or reread) them all.
Love this list! I’ve read many of them but also added some to my TBR for upcoming beach and pool time. May also re-read Rebecca – this transports me home to the UK and brings reminders of many summers spent ‘on holiday’ in the Fowey area of Cornwall where this is set
I’ve read so many of these! Great list. May I add one of my favorites by Laura Spence-Ash titled Beyond That, the Sea: A Novel? Can’t wait to read the rest of this list!
Hey, Anne. I’m in Louisville right now. Waving!
Well hello! Waving hi right back at you!
You did a great job of selecting all different kinds of books! I’ve read Rebecca, Lucy By the Sea, Wild Dark Shore, Sandwich, Light Between the Oceans, The Winter Sea, and Fellowship Point. I would be interested in Wide Sargasso Sea, because I just watched the 1983 version of Jane Eyre and I’m not a fan of Mr Rochester! My mother and I are yelling, “Run, Jane, Run! He’s a crazy man! Don’t get mixed up with Him!”. As to other suggestions, all I can come up with are books AT SEA, not BY THE SEA. I guess I like AT SEA better, although these ones were all good. And if we’re talking about Cornwall, people might like to read the Poldark series by Winston Graham, it certainly has a strong sense of place by the sea…
Just thought of 3 more set by water:
Isola by Allegra Goodman, set in the 1500s, Marguerite ends up on an island in the St. Lawrence, in Canada, all alone.
Little Monsters by Adrienne Brodeur—adult children of a father with bipolar disorder and a great oceanographer, meet at their Cape Cod home and drama ensues…
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger—all kinds of mayhem and mystery set on a river in Minnesota in 1958…slow and character driven until the end, then it’s wham wham wham! So good.
I suppose A Life of Pi by Yann Martel isn’t exactly set by the sea but a lot of it is set on the sea. I would also like to mention The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera which is all about the Maori of New Zealand and their interaction with the sea. (As I learned while visiting NZ this year, the Maori originated in the Pacific islands and made their way by canoe to NZ-an amazing feat of navigation.)
Along with Daphne du Maurier’s, Rebecca is her book Frenchman’s Creek, which also takes place by the sea! More of a rollicking adventure than a mysterious tale. But I loved it!
I recently got around to reading a book often mentioned by Anne on WSIRN, Grief Cottage by Gail Godwin, which fits in this category. However it’s not your classic beach read but instead a summertime story that’s set by the ocean in South Carolina but is a “summer-Gothic” + coming-of-age story with a young boy dealing with grief, a gruff but well-intentioned great-aunt, and a ramshackle cottage with a tragic and mysterious past. There are lots of atmospheric beach scenes and sea turtles, too. A really good read; glad I finally read this one.
The Watery Part of the World by Michael Parker, set in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, partly a historical mystery about Theodosia Burr, who was lost at sea, and the current generation who may or may not be her descendants.
The Outermost House by Henry Beston is awesome, have read it multiple times make me feel the sand, the wind, and can smell the salt air….. I have the 75th Anniversary edition. A book I picked up in Ireland Twenty Years A-Growing by Mauice O’Sullivan about the Blasket Islands — a classic of a world now gone.
Gift From The Sea! One of my all time favorites
The Summer I Turned Pretty has the loveliest beach scenes.
I really enjoyed Haven Point by Virginia Hume. The setting, the rocky coast of Maine, family drama and lots of sailing. I am looking forward to her new book, Liberty Island.